


Quantum Ronpa: Avatar Tuner

by Marinosepass



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Quantum Devil Saga: Avatar Tuner - 五代 ゆう | Godai Yuu, Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dangan Ronpa Fusion, Alternate Universe - High School, Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-03
Updated: 2017-12-12
Packaged: 2019-02-10 01:48:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 21,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12901365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marinosepass/pseuds/Marinosepass
Summary: Throw the cast of Digital Devil Saga in a school and force them all to kill each other, Dangan Ronpa style. The plot is pretty much original so it can pretty much be enjoyed without having to play Danganronpa, hope you like murder.





	1. Prologue

_‘Om Mani Padme Hm’_

The words flashed in Serph’s mind, pulsating and bringing him from the comfort of nothingness. The words held some kind of familiarity to him, a significance he couldn’t quite recall that instilled in him a twinge of sorrow. His eyes fluttered open and he awoke to a song he felt he had heard many times and yet never before- perhaps in some other life.

 _‘--On the heaven,_  
_The earth the spirit_  
_Light brings glory and grace--’_

The source of it, a young girl with shortly trimmed black hair, looked over at him and smiled. Her voice, and the oddly familiar song, faded from his memory, and he could only stare back wordlessly. His eyes were drawn to the strange looking tattoo on her right cheek, before her words snapped them back up to meet hers.

“You’ve been asleep for awhile. How are you feeling?” she said. Serph nodded in response. That’s not really a question that can be replied to with a nod.

He wasn’t very talkative, but she seemed to understand. Serph looked around the room, everything was blindingly white and state-of-the-art. The blackboard was digital, and written on it was the phrase ‘Once Zhuangzi dreamt he was a butterfly’ in white, contrasting the black interface. Even the school tables were white with neat black interfaces, besides that...just behind the girl, the windows were barricaded. Cool and calm as usual, Serph gestured toward the window.

She looked behind herself, and frowned. “Ah yes. I haven’t left this room since it’s a little scary in here but...All the windows are probably the same…” Cameras dangled from the ceiling, he briefly wondered if it was all part of some kind of variety show… He looked up again at Sera, whose eyes were downcast.

Serph scooted his chair a little closer and placed a hand on her shoulder, giving her a reassuring smile. He didn’t even know her name and yet...He felt he knew her as well as he knew himself. She briefly stared at him, and as if she could sense his thoughts, the girl spoke. “My name is Sera. It’s nice to meet you!”

Serph nodded and stood up. “Serph.” he said. His voice was lovely and honey smooth, but he kept his words concise. Still facing Sera, he pointed a thumb behind himself toward the door.

“I was afraid to go out there before but…” she turned to smile at Serph brightly. “I think I’ll be safer with you around.” She stood up then, her opposite hand on her forearm, eyes cast down. She looked up at him again briefly. “Cool hair by the way, I don’t think I’d be able to pull it off...the silver looks really nice!”  
_Wait, Silver…? That didn’t sound right. ...And yet it didn’t really feel like it was wrong either._

“Must’ve taken a lot of courage to get that tattoo on your face too. Most places don’t even let high schoolers get tattoos!” _Tattoo on your face?_ Serph looked at Sera quizzically.

Her eyebrows furrowed, and she cocked her head to the side. “You know, the one on your left cheek!’ Serph frowned, but quickly realized something was amiss.

Serph gently put his hand to Sera’s right cheek. “You have one too.”

She froze, shocked, and immediately put her hand on her cheek. She traced the outline of the odd-looking mark, feeling a distinct sensation under her fingertips, unlike anything she could recognize. “...I don’t remember getting this… Do you think the people who locked us in here gave us these?”

When Serph didn’t reply, she let her hand fall to her side, and continued. “Maybe they’ll wash off...I hope they do. I guess we can worry about that later...for now we should go find a way out.”

Serph nodded and turned to the door, he then noticed...Noble Samsara Academy…? The symbol for the prestigious school was written on the door. He opened the door and walked out with Sera following closely behind him. Serph felt nostalgic, but didn’t know why.

As unlikely as it was that the main doors are open, it seemed like a good first place to look. Serph followed the signs through the winding school hallways, although his body already seemed to know his way around. He didn’t think much of it, and focused instead on Sera as she made one sided conversation, Serph listening intently and responding whenever necessary. Turn after turn they navigated the labyrinthine school, all the corridors identical except for the helpful digital indicators and arrows that hung from above. ‘

‘Do you think we’ll find a way out of here?’ Sera asked, walking behind Serph. He stopped to face her and smiled, his smile a comforting embrace. He didn’t say a single word, but he was able to quell Sera’s fears, if only momentarily.

After various wrong turns and an accidental loop or two, they arrived at the main hall of the school, at which there were two things waiting for them: an enormous barricaded and locked door, old and grey contrasting the pristine white room, with a lotus sloppily graffiti’d onto it, and...more students.  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A colorful assortment of people awaited them, both figuratively and literally.

Upon entering, there was a strong woman with bright pink hair flowing down in several braids. She was standing confidently right in the center, and beside her was a tall gaunt woman with forest green hair and sad, downcast matching green eyes with a bright red teardrop underneath. They didn’t seem to notice Sera and Serph come in, having a seemingly one sided conversation.

A man with wild violet hair curling down to his shoulders stood by himself in a far end of the room, scanning the room just as Serph was. He made brief eye contact with Serph and grinned. Serph quickly looked away. He had a red star tattoo on his eye, it looked fake to Serph.

There was a man with grey, almost platinum blonde hair standing uncomfortably by himself in the center left. He looked very mature to say the least. He seemed annoyed, as if this entire situation was just a minor inconvenience.

A rugged looking man with a mop of red hair leaned against a wall in the far right side. He had fierce, piercing red eyes and seemed angry. Or was that just his face…?

Near the ‘door’, a gangly tall man with swept back teal hair was conversing with someone With him was a raven haired woman who stood with her hands in her lab coat pockets. Something about her was intimidating, though the other man didn’t really seem bothered. Serph noticed the man put his fingers to the bridge of his nose while speaking and his confusion which followed when he did.

Especially apart from everyone else, a rather nervous man with messy orange hair and a green headband stood in a corner by the entrance to the hall. Goodness, he was shaking like a leaf, his fingers gripping the hem of his green bomber jacket as his eyes darted around the room suspiciously.

A portly man with orange-brown dreads was shifting his gaze, looking around and observing the situation. He looked quite angry, which made sense given their odd situation.

By the door on the left side, a young woman with short grey hair peaking out from underneath a cream sunhat- more befitting someone much older than her- stood with her hands folded primly. She was wearing sunglasses indoors...How pretentious.

Right in front of the lock, a strong, heavily built man with dark blue hair stood with his arms crossed, fuming. Serph gathered that he probably tried opening the door using sheer strength...Foolish.

There was a tall stoic looking man with long red-orange hair by the door on the right side. He seemed to be pretty calm considering the circumstances.

There was one more and he seemed to be walking toward--  
“Ey’! Did you guys just wake up too?”

Standing before them was a lithe young man with sky blue dreads tied in gold bangles, smiling brightly. He seemed pretty upbeat despite their situation, or was he just putting up a good face?

He grinned at Sera and gave a cheerful little salute. “My names Cielo, the Ultimate Aviationist!” _‘Ultimate…?’_ Serph thought.

“Great to meet you guys!” he continued. These weren’t exactly ‘great’ circumstances, but Serph appreciated the sentiment. Sera seemed to be in a better mood at least.

“I’m Sera, and this is Serph!” Sera gestured. “...Although he doesn’t really talk much.”

Cielo nodded in understanding. “That’s no problem, I can talk enough for the three of us!” He winked and gestured to his cheek in reference to their newfound markings. “Love the ink by the way!”

Serph was still stuck on the phrase ‘Ultimates’, and once again, as if she could sense what he was thinking--

“Oh- I, I’m the Ultimate Seer!” Seer? Serph shook his head in confusion, Cielo seemed a little shocked.

“Wait- you don’t have an Ultimate?! Or- or...Do you just not remember it?”

“I don’t know” Serph responded.

Cielo rubbed the back of his head, and after a moment, he shrugged. “Well, don’t worry ‘bout it, my memory from before I got here‘s a little hazy too.” Serph just shook his head again.

“That’s no problemo brudda! You’ll probably remember it once we get out of here! The others are already trying to think of ways to get out, mainly miss sunshine and moss head over there.” Cielo pointed to the mean looking dark haired woman and her teal haired companion. “They’re pretty smart but not the most friendly… Angel yelled at me for being too loud earlier!” Cielo scratched his head and laughed awkwardly.

“Angel…?” Sera repeated the name quietly to herself. Cielo didn’t seem to hear.

“-But Seer huh? That sounds cool, does it mean you can see the future sis?” Cielo asked to break the silence.

Sera shifted uncomfortably a little. “Hmm, it’s not really like in the movies or anything like that, it’s more like….a feeling I get, an intuition of things to come, y’know?”

Cielo didn’t quite understand, but he was excited about it nonetheless. After they chatted about movies for awhile, Cielo changed the topic. “Why don’t you introduce yourselves to everyone? It’s kind of depressing in here, ja? Sure would help lighten the mood at least.”

Sera didn’t seem too keen on talking to ‘Angel’, so Serph had decided he’d introduce himself to her by himself later. He walked over to the pink haired woman. She emanated kindness but at the same time her demeanor was very...resolute, confident even. A deep contrast to her companion who stood proudly and yet looked so melancholy.

Sera was so shy. “...Hello...My name is Sera and I’m the Ultimate Seer-- your hair is really pretty…” she was almost inaudible. Noticing her timidness, the pink haired woman looked at her and smiled.

“Thank you very much! My name is Argilla, and this is Jinana. I’m the Ultimate Activist and my friend here--” Argilla stopped to glimpse at her companion again. The green haired woman was lost in thought.

“-My friend here is Jinana, the Ultimate Poet. I hope we can be good friends. If anyone here bothers you, just let me know, alright Sera?” she ruffled Sera’s hair playfully. She had an aura of love and familiarity that permeated her words with Sera. Serph looked over at the green-haired woman, who simply watched them with a quiet eye. He remembered reading some of Jinana’s poetry online, it was pretty heavy stuff. It had a way of digging into you and making you feel deep sorrow.

“I’ve seen you on TV before, haven’t I?” Sera exclaimed. “You’re at lots of animal rights protests and even go as far as locking yourself in with endangered, sometimes dangerous animals to protect them! They say you can turn a lion into a housecat!’ Sera seemed much more energetic now. Argilla grinned.

“Every life is important, that’s what I always say! If no one else will fight for them, why can’t it be me!” Serph noticed Jinana smile for the first time since meeting her, albeit briefly.

After some pleasant conversation between Argilla and Sera, Jinana spoke. "There doesn’t seem to be an obvious way out right now, but...let’s focus on finding an escape regardless.” Jinana was a very no nonsense woman and she was a tad gloomy but… she didn’t seem like a bad person at least. Argilla was very talkative and passionate, it was a wonder how they got along so well.

Sera and Serph walked up to the man with violet hair, and before they could even open their mouths he spoke, looking past them and avoiding eye contact.

"Tch, I didn’t know this place was a daycare." _It’s not like they exactly wanted to be here._ Serph could feel Argilla’s eyes on them, and the man quickly changed his tune.

"Name’s Bat. I’m the Ultimate Soloist." Sera asked him what that was, and he seemed annoyed.

"I play music. I play the saxophone. I play by myself. Anymore questions?" Sera looked dejected. She told him her ultimate and they quickly excused themselves. _What a rude man._ They had both heard his music before, who would’ve thought such beautiful music could come from such a sour person? Last they heard of him he started making rock music or something and his fanbase plummeted.

After their uncomfortable encounter with Bat, they decided to introduce themselves to the grey haired young woman. She bowed her head slightly and courteously when they approached her and introduced herself without prompt.

"Good afternoon, my name is Margot Cuvier. It’s a pleasure to meet you both-- I suppose I should introduce my Ultimate, I’m the Ultimate Politician." The name was familiar to Sera and Serph. She was well known for her work throughout the world as a prodigy who rose by her own merits and not just the wealth of her family.

Sera was a little intimidated. Margot had impeccable manners but she was such an important person, that it was like meeting a celebrity. She stuttered out her name and Ultimate and explained Serph’s situation. Margot, sensing her anxiety, responded in turn.

"Do not worry child, I won’t bite. Talk to me as you would any classmate, okay dear?" Sera smiled, comforted by Margot’s words. Margot asked her if she could remember anything, as she was trying to piece together why they were all in this situation. She then explained no one else can remember much either, beyond the phrase ‘Om Mani Padme Hm’ which must have some significance. She mentioned she and ‘Angel’ were trying to figure out what exactly happened, but didn’t have more information that what she told them.

After, they decided to talk to the portly man, mostly to get it over with since he didn’t seem like he wanted to talk to anyone. Sera opened her mouth to speak and--

"My name’s Mick, Ultimate Architect. If you’ve ever heard the name ‘Slug’, you’ve heard of me. Now go bother someone else."

Sera was a little hurt, but nonetheless ignored his attempt to get her to leave and still introduced herself and Serph. Serph was annoyed at Mick’s treatment of Sera and stood behind her, glaring at him, like an older brother defending his sibling. Mick looked at them both, and sighed, though he was still glaring at them, his voice softened up a little, at least.

"Whoever built this door and lock knows their shit. It could survive a nuclear strike and stay standing just like the day it was built. Omega kept trying to break it open with his bare hands like some kind of idiot and eventually got angry and gave up." ‘Omega’ must be the blue haired man fuming by the door. Mick went on about the structural benefits of the building and the various hidden paths he deduced there could be before Sera excused herself.

The blue haired man still seemed angry so they figured it would be best to wait until he was a little calmer, so they went to the red-orange haired man who...just shook more the closer they got to him. Poor thing. Sera introduced herself and Serph and he just stared at them nervously, and after what felt like an eternity of silence, he spoke up.

"H-Harley. I’m Harley. I’m the Ultimate Investigator…" He wrung his hands as he spoke.

Sera’s eyes lit up. "Ultimate Investigator?! Does that mean you can figure out what’s going on?!" He shook his head and looked down, speaking quietly.

"Unfortunately not...I’m the uh...Ultimate Paranormal Investigator. I’m kind of useless…" Sera felt bad for bringing it up but quickly changed the topic. He didn’t seem all that interested in the paranormal so much as terribly afraid of it. Maybe it’s comforting for him to know more about the things he can’t see instead of being in the dark about it?

With shaky hands he signed goodbye to Serph. Ah, he knows Sign Language, maybe he and Serph can be friends?

They next went to the red haired man, who kept eyeing them both since they arrived, not with malice but with curiosity. Perhaps startled by their approach, he spoke rather brusquely. "Fuck do you want?" _Lovely._

Sera didn’t seem all that intimidated by him, his eyes belied his words. "Hello, my name is Sera and I’m the Ultimate Seer, and this is my friend Serph!" _Friend? They just met, but it did feel right though._

The man looked away, "Heat O’Brien. I’m the Ultimate Athlete…Hey quiet guy-- Serph or whatever, wanna arm wrestle?" An arm wrestling match with the Ultimate Athlete didn’t quite sound fair, even if Serph was confident in his strength. "Later." he replied.

Heat looked him in the eyes and grinned wildly. "Short and to the point. I like that." He held his hand out and he and Serph shook hands. Sera seemed happy about it.

Neither Sera nor Serph were very into sports but the name ‘Heat O’Brien’ was basically a household name. He excelled in every sport he took part in, he basically had recruiters breaking down his walls. Track, Rugby, Football, Baseball, Wrestling, you name it and Heat has some kind of trophy for it.

"I don’t really give much of a fuck about sports per se, I just really like winning." Well said. At least he’s upfront about it. He promised to teach Sera self defense techniques and reminded Serph about their future arm wrestling match and they excused themselves.

The pair then went to introduce themselves to the white-blonde man, who seemed to be lost in thought. He didn’t notice them coming and pulled a flask out of his coat-- Sera gasped. He heard her and turned to look at them and flashed a lazy smile.

"Hey there, I’m Roland and I’m uhh...I’m the Ultimate Bartender." He stressed the word ‘bartender heavily, probably to calm Sera down.

"B-But isn’t that illegal? We’re all in high school!" Roland shrugged.

"I flunked a grade or two. It’s technically legal." After Sera finished fretting over the ethics of underage drinking, she was finally calm enough to actually introduce them both.

"Sera and Serph... I’ll be sure to remember that. Sera Serph Sera Serph Sera Serph…Got it." He talked to Serph a little about the whiskey he had in his flask and how it was of especially good quality, much to Sera’s discomfort. Serph excused them both for Sera’s sanity.

The blue haired man seemed dejected but calm, so they finally got a chance to approach him. He was sitting by the door with his knee up casually and when he noticed them approaching, he tilted his head up in greeting.

"Varin Omega, Ultimate Soldier. You here to try the door too?" Serph and Sera shook their head no in unison and he sighed in response. "Goddamn door, wait til I get my hands on whoever locked us in this place I swear I’ll--"

"My name is Sera and I’m the Ultimate Seer, and this is Serph!" Varin looked at them quizzically. "What in the sam hell is a Seer? Nevermind that, can it help us get out of here?" Sera shook her head dejectedly.

"Feh." Varin responded. He wasn’t very friendly. An Ultimate Soldier...He’s probably seen unspeakable things, Serph thought. He must be very strong.

Serph was already socially exhausted, but there still remained a few people left to introduce themselves to. They went to the man with the long orange-red hair, who didn’t seem to notice them, but once he did he quickly changed his demeanor. He smiled.

"My name is Lupa, and I’m the Ultimate Camp Counselor. I suppose you wouldn’t expect that kind of title from someone like me." Sera seemed comfortable around him, and she introduced herself and Serph.

"I’ll try to think of some way to help you-- Serph was it? Recall your talent. It’ll come to you soon, I’m sure of it." He gave Sera lots of advice and talked endlessly about his younger brother, he seems to care about him immensely. If anyone can find a way out of here, it would be Lupa.

Serph had offered to introduce himself to ‘Jenna Angel’ by himself for Sera’s comfort, but Sera insisted on joining in. How scary could she be anyway? They learned that she could be very scary, in fact. Without even turning to face them, she spoke.

"Are you here to waste my time with petulant introductions, or are you going to offer anything productive and help Gale and I find a way out?" Sera seemed shaken but still spoke, albeit quietly.

"I’m Sera and...and this is Serph...I’m the Ultimate Seer but I can’t really um... use my power and he uhh...can’t remember his talent…"

Jenna sighed and faced them. "Jenna Angel, Ultimate Bioengineer. If that’s all you need and you don’t have anything to offer you may go now." Her companion was stone faced, but didn’t seem unfriendly. He spoke.

"My name is Da-- Gale, Ultimate Archivist." What was he going to say…? Nevermind that. Sera seemed a little confused.

"What is an Archivist?" she asked. Jenna rolled her eyes and spoke up. "It means he knows everything, now either make yourself useful, little miss prophet, or run along."

Gale glared at her, or at least it looked like a glare. His face wasn’t very expressive. "If there’s some information at the tip of your tongue and you just can’t remember it, let me know and I can help you figure it out. History, mathematics, literature, science, I know all recorded information in every subject." Gale explained.

"He’s an encyclopedia but with a heart, at least I think he has one." Jenna mocked, and then turned to look at her companion with folded arms. "Don’t you find it strange that Serph can’t remember his talent? Did he have one to begin with? Is he here by mistake? I can’t help but to wonder. And you, _Seraphita_ , how do we know you even have so called ‘seer’ powers and didn’t just make it up to get into the school?"

Saved by the bell quite literally, the PA System went off, and an unfamiliar voice rang through the school.

"All students please assemble in the auditorium for an announcement."

Jenna was annoyed to be interrupted, but was even more annoyed to be reminded that she was trapped in a school. Serph spoke up.

"I...think we should all go. We may get some answers."

"And here I had you pegged as a mute." Jenna retorted. Does that woman ever have anything nice to say?

After lots of discussion and caution, everyone had agreed to go to the auditorium. Everyone made their way out of the room at their own pace, back into the maze-like academy. Hushed whispers could be heard all around, and the anxiety was palpable. Far ahead of the pack was Serph and Sera, until they finally arrived at two enormous push doors that looked like they belonged in a hospital, like most of the school did in general, as well as some of the students (Harley). Serph pushed the doors open and, along with Sera, entered the painfully bright-white room.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The auditorium was immense, with the school insignia of a lotus on the floor of it. Equally massive to match the scale was a huge set of black velvet curtains with a white trim at the top and bottom, contrasting the sickeningly white room. Once everyone arrived, silence fell and deafened the room, until--

Beep beep beep….krrrrrrshhhhhhhhhhhhh

Dial up sounds? It was deafening, everyone was trying to cover their ears, well barring Bat who seemed used to the loud, cacophonous noise. After what felt like an eternity but in reality was just forty-five seconds, the sounds stopped, and in it’s place, a rather victorious sounding trumpet played, and out came from behind the curtain...a black housecat wearing a collar with a little mouth bell with matching ebony and ivory inlay. Kind of anticlimactic.

The cat climbed the stepladder to the podium and ‘spoke’, through a speaker in it’s collar maybe. "Meow. Welcome to your School Life of Mutual Killing. I’m your favorite quantum uncertainty, Schrodinger." School Life of Mutual Killing?

Heat was the first to speak up. “Fuck you mean ‘Mutual Killing’? How about you shut your damn mouth before I show you a quantum uncertainty pussy!" _Does he ever think before he speaks?_

"Meow. I haven’t opened my mouth since I arrived, but you are correct, I am in fact a pussy." Schrodinger responded, monotone as before.

Bat chimed in next, speaking over the chaos taking over the room. "One, can we stop saying pussy, two, what the fuck is going on?"

"Is there something wrong with pussy?” Argilla interjected. “Typical. So much as mention the word and men go into a tizzy, right Jinana?" Jinana groaned quietly.

Schrodinger licked his paw and scratched his ear before speaking. "Meow. Let me explain. In order to reach Nirvana, you must kill one of your fellow students and survive a class trial without being caught. If you are correctly accused by your classmates, you are branded the blackened and you are punished. However, if you survive the class trial without being accused...All your classmates are punished instead, and you are free to achieve Nirvana."

Jenna spoke up next, her eyes fierce and defiant. "This is preposterous. You can’t possibly expect us to simply go along with this do you? You think we’d just start killing each other because you said so?"

"Yeah it sounds stupid as fuck! Besides, it’d be unfair. Everyone here except me and like, maybe Heat and Lupa are weak as shit!" Varin explained.

"Yeah! -Hey wait, maybe? Who you callin’ weak blueberry pubes!" Heat yelled back.

"You heard me firecrotch!" Varin responded. Lupa rubbed his temples.

"How vulgar…" Margot said under her breath.

"Meow. That’s why I’ve prepared a motivation to encourage a healthy, fun killing game. If a murder happens...You’ll all be free to go outside!" You could hear a tinge of excitement in Schrodinger’s monotone voice.

"There’s nothing healthy or fun about this!" Harley interjected.

"I’m with firecrotch lite!" Varin yelled out. Serph covered Sera’s ears for the time being.

"Can you think of a joke that doesn’t involve genitalia?" Gale added. Roland nodded solemnly.

"It’s not like we need you to let us out while I’m around, I can find us a way out without your help! If I can do one thing, it’s find escape routes!" Mick hollered at the cat.

"That’s right brudda! We don’t need you, Shrewdingo or whatever! We’ll get out together!" Cielo jumped in.

Schrodinger closed his eyes and looked down. "Meow. Oh no. I have been thrwarted by the power of vague acquaintanceship, my one weakness. Self destruct in 3…"

Harley shrieked like a little girl and hid behind Sera of all people. Everyone started scrambling and--

"Self destruct in three millennia." Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"Meow. Anyways, there’s no way out. Either you kill someone, or enjoy the rest of your days in this state of the art academy. There’s no shortage of food, and even if there was, this school is self sustained. You could live here forever, or at least until you get bored and die in a group suicide." Schrodinger said.

"Group suicide doesn’t sound too bad at this point, my head can’t take much more of all this noise." Roland added.

"Hey count me in!" Bat replied.

"You shouldn’t joke about suicide!" Sera blurted out.

"We’re trapped in a school being forced to kill each other and you’re concerned about the ethics of a hypothetical group suicide?" Jenna retorted.

During the commotion, it seemed like Schrodinger made his exit, as he was nowhere to be found.

"It...Doesn’t seem as if the cat was lying. We really are trapped here...Perhaps we should make the best of the situation, we apparently have no shortage of food or supplies, there was even a fully stocked infirmary." Gale said.

Mick was peeved by that. "Speak for yourself, there’s no building I can’t find a way out of, you can bet your ass I’ll get out of here, but feel free to stay here by yourself, freak."

Gale only touched his temple in response and didn’t speak.

Lupa interjected. "I...Agree with Mick. I want to get out of here as soon as possible, and I’d rather not stay here much longer than I need to be."

"It doesn’t matter to me either way. Would make it easier if we had booze though." Roland added. Sera pouted and made an upset noise at the mention of alcohol.

"What did we do...to deserve this…" Jinana spoke up for the first time in awhile. No one responded, and the room became solemn.

Serph’s face was placid as always, but inside he was touched by Jinana’s words. He wasn’t particularly afraid of the events transpiring around them, there was little Serph was truly afraid of. He was unsure of what fate had in store for him, but there was one thing he was certain of-- he wouldn’t let himself succumb to this killing game. Not just him, not him nor Sera nor any of the others will succumb to this killing game.


	2. 1-1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Serph explores the hallowed halls of the school to find a way out and gets to know his fellow classmates.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im quite literally writing this fic for a dead fanbase and you know what? im living

Surprisingly, the first to speak up and rally them together wasn’t Serph or Lupa or Sera, it was the unfriendliest of the bunch: Jenna.

 

“Are you all going to wallow here in self pity or are you going to do something? If not, you might as well kill yourself to free the rest of us who want to live. We haven’t explored every room of this school, we’ve barely scratched the surface. I suggest we get to finding a way out instead of giving up when we’ve only just begun.”

 

That was...Profound, especially from the mouth of one so jaded.

 

“I concur. You know...On my way here with Angel, we encountered several doors locked electronically. Perhaps Schrodinger kept them locked until after our meeting, at the very least we may find clues that explain the reasoning behind our confinement.” Gale’s soothing monotone a stark contrast to Jenna’s...animated and pointed form of speech.

 

Jenna dominated the room with her presence, and before anyone could even agree or respond (poor Cielo was opening his mouth to speak), she continued. “If we split into groups we can cover more ground, that way we can find a possible exit much quicker. I’ll go with Gale, obviously,” she stood closer to him to make her point, not that Gale really reacted. “If you have anyone you’d like to go with, then go, otherwise just tag along with another dreg.”

 

Serph and Sera looked at each other and quickly formed a pair. Jinana and Argilla were already attached at the hip it seemed. Varin and Heat joined up and quickly dragged Lupa along with him, but he didn’t seem to mind. Roland, Margot and Mick joined up with each other which left, of course, Bat, Cielo and Harley.

 

Cielo looked over at the two uncomfortably. “Uhhh...I think I’ll go on my own, cover more ground and all right brudda?” Gale just nodded vacantly in approval. Jenna glared at him but didn’t argue.

 

Bat scowled, and immediately turned to Jinana. “C’mon cus’, can I be with you so I’m not stuck with the basketcase?” He whined.

_‘Cus’?_

Argilla quickly jumped to Jinana’s defense and shoo’d Bat away, forcing him to retreat to Harley who clearly overheard what he said. He just waved hello nervously. Bat’s groaning could be heard by everyone.

 

Everyone already had points of interests they wanted to explore and quickly scattered barring Bat, who lazily stuck around in the same room to ‘look for stuff they may have missed’ as he put it before he dragged Harley along with him behind the curtain. Sera tugged at Serph’s sleeve and suggested they head out too, but Serph decided they may as well explore this room a little before leaving.

 

The room was pretty much empty, without even chairs that a standard auditorium would have for students to sit in during assemblies. _Must be hell to clean this place._ Serph mused that Schrodinger didn’t even want to give them the comfort of getting to sit down during his speech, and decided there was nothing of note aside from the usual odd cameras, along with the podium on the stage.

 

Serph hoisted himself up while Sera climbed the steps up to the auditorium stage. (The steps Serph didn’t notice at the time and mentally hit his head against a desk for not seeing.) Serph and Sera approached the marble podium Schrodinger was on before. Behind it was a little stepladder fit for a feline and atop it was a microphone along with a sheet of paper with the face ‘>:3c’ drawn on it. Sera giggled, which was at least one thing they got from exploring the stage.

 

The curtains above the duo was in luxurious, billowy velvet. Bat and Harley were nowhere to be seen so they were presumably behind the curtains. The two walked behind the curtains and found a less blindingly white room that looked more of what a regular backstage would, with sandbags and ropes and all sorts of things Serph had no idea how to use. Along with the typical things one would see, were two things that were painfully out of place: a steel ladder that lead up, and a small set of stairs that led down.

 

Bat was looking up at the ladder along with Harley when Serph and Sera approached in their usual quiet manner, catching the pair off guard. They both shrieked but Harley’s was a liiittle louder. He made a strange ‘Ouhhh’ noise when he noticed after that it was just Serph.

 

“ _Shit_ dude, do we need to put a bell on you like that cat? At least announce yourself when you enter a room! Goddamn…” Bat exclaimed. Harley was counting to calm himself down, and Serph made a mental note not to sneak up on Harley especially, for his mental health at the very least.

 

“Shouldn’t you two be out exploring? -Whatever check this out.” Bat pointed up toward the ladder. Serph looked up and could see a barricaded door with hues of a green and red on the exposed parts, behind the barricade.

 

“Sick right? If there’s a way out, it’s probably through here. Goddamn, I’m a genius.” Bat was ever full of himself. Sera raised a finger.

 

“Sorry, I uhh...I don’t think it would be that easy. It’s probably just the fly loft, I think.” Serph, Bat and Harley tilted their heads.

 

“The fly loft is the place above the stage, they usually keep lots of pulleys and props there to safely put them on the stage during performances.” Sera explained. Harley gasped.

 

“T-That sounds dangerous! What if a man in a white mask were to hide up there and kidnap one of the actresses during a play or something! Also I don’t like heights!”

 

Bat rolled his eyes and scoffed. “We didn’t ask, basketcase! Besides, what are the odds of that happening? You watch too many movies!”

 

Harley distanced himself from the ladder, but in the process tripped and fell down the steps. Everyone sighed in exasperation, but rushed to him nonetheless. He seemed to have rolled down the stairs and into yet another barricaded door, this one purple with magenta accents and a wavy pattern. Harley looked okay, but he was gonna feel that in the morning for sure. Sera asked him if he needed ice and he shook his head.

 

“I-I’m fine, except for my dignity.”

 

Bat laughed, high and squeaky. “You had any in the first place?”

 

“This entire room is hazardous, we should seal off the auditorium so no one gets hurt! It’s unsafe in here, what if someone tumbles down the steps and ends up in another world?” _Did he bump his head on the way down?_

 

“Numbnuts- only you’re stupid enough to fall down the steps like that, and you didn’t even find anything useful! Couldn’t you have fallen on an exit or something?” Bat’s tone was scalding as ever. Poor Harley just choked back tears.

 

“I think we can chalk this search up as a complete and total failure, if you want to blame anyone for it though, blame Harley.” Harley sniffed, and in a moment, Sera hopped down the steps and helped him up.

 

“Are you okay Harley? You’re pretty tough to get through a fall like that unscathed!” Even in a situation like this, Sera always seemed to be so genuine, exuding kindness and sympathy.

 

“Y-Yeah I’m used to it, it’s no big deal...Thanks for worrying about me though.” Harley scratched his head and carefully walked with Sera up the steps, her tiny frame supporting his gangly one. Serph gave a thumbs up when he made it up.

 

Harley was happy about the small gesture, and in response put his left hand to his chin and moved it outward and down. An expression that meant ‘thank you’. Sera didn’t understand, but she was happy that the two were interacting. Bat rolled his eyes for what seemed like the fiftieth time in the very little time they’ve known each other. Serph made an arc motion from the top of his chest to his stomach outward. ‘You’re welcome.’

 

Serph could speak without difficulty, he just didn’t particularly enjoy speaking. He didn’t have any deep trauma about it, he wasn’t crushed by the expectations of others, he just didn’t like speaking when it wasn’t necessary. As a result, he taught himself sign language (which he rarely had the opportunity to use). ...At least that’s why he thought he taught it to himself. His memories were a little hazy after all.

 

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After excusing themselves and mentally wishing Harley good luck with Bat, the two explored the indistinguishable halls of the school, path after path, left foot right foot until they saw a screen with a flickering digital display that read ‘DORMITORY’ in caps font with a dimly lit stairway that led up. The pair shrugged and walked up the steps that led to another-- Oh thank goodness this one isn’t white.

 

The walls were eggshell or cream or some kind of white variant that wasn’t just #FFFFFF white, with lovely intricate gold trim swirling all around, drawing the eye to follow the lines ad infinitum in circles around the room.

 

The floors were coffee or vanilla or some kind of white variant, just like everything in the school, but it was more pleasing to the eye than the rest of the school. Lining the walls on either side were automated sliding doors with cute little pixels that Serph deduced were supposed to represent the fifteen students in the school, with an additional sixteenth room with no pixel, probably just there for the sake of symmetry. At each end there was a room with a digital display above that read ‘Bathroom’. _Thank goodness they could shower._

 

In the center was a pit with a large cream suede circular sofa with pillows all around it and Serph could make out yet another lotus motif on the floor in the center. Sitting on the sofa with their back turned to Serph was a smooth head of mossy hair, it was too long to be Gale, which just left…

 

“Jinana.” Serph said, nothing more.

 

She turned to him, forcing an awkward half smile and waved, which didn’t bother Serph because she was trying her best. Sera ran to her, plopped herself on the sofa, sitting on her knees across from Jinana excitedly.

 

“It seems as though Schrodinger wasn’t lying about the accommodations. Argilla and I’s rooms were fully personalized and stocked with clothing and necessities, and I presume as are everyone else's. She’s checking the women's bathroom for a possible escape but...I suggest you don’t barge in. I don’t think she would take too kindly to that.” Serph hadn’t heard her speak that much well, ever. Not that they’d known each other very long.

 

“Can I see your room? I would love to see what the Ultimate Poet’s sleeping quarters are like!” Sera asked. It was difficult to say no when she looked at you with those big pleading eyes, and right on cue--

 

Jinana stood up and smoothed down her outfit. “Yes, you may. Let me give you the tour.” She walked wordlessly with Sera trailing behind her to the room on the lefthand side with her pixel above it, right next to the one with Bat’s and the one with Jenna’s. She gestured to a button on the side of the door for Sera to press (she did) and the door quietly slid open. Before entering, Jinana looked over at Serph. “You may come too if you wish.”

 

Serph got up and strode over to the two, joining the impromptu tour. Inside Jinana’s room was...Exactly what you’d expect the inside of Jinana’s head is like. Morbid. Red candles were lit across the room (Serph wondered whether she lit them or if they were pre lit), some of the candles lit atop skulls and pentagrams and other vaguely pagan imagery. There was a canopy bed with willowy veils and lovely red velvet sheets, perfect for a night of bad dreams and restlessness. Of course, once Jinana turned the light switch on, the mood changed quickly (and all the candles went out, strangely enough). Beside her bed was a nightstand with a little notebook that probably doubled as a dream journal and a poetry book. Serph assumed the two most likely intersected often. The walls were a weird shade of green similar to asparagus, a shade much like her her hair but paler. On her dresser with candles on either side was a white tablet connected to a charging station. Jinana made a vague motion with her hands that must’ve meant welcome.

 

Serph pointed at the tablet and made a noise that was like a question mark but audible and Jinana responded in turn by making another questioning sound.

 

Serph picked it up and looked at Jinana quizzically. “Hmm?” he ‘said’, presumably asking Jinana if he could look at it.

 

“Mhmm.” Jinana hummed in response, giving him permission to inspect it. He tapped the screen. A notification at the top read ‘Someone has opened your door’. Serph took note of it and swiped, revealing what looked like an incomplete map of the school with ‘STUDENT HANDBOOK’ written at the top. Serph turned it over and there was yet another lotus motif on the back of the tablet. Serph was growing tired of the flower, as he assumed everyone else was.

 

Serph sighed, realizing he had to speak and couldn’t keep up the _lovely_ nonverbal communication he had going on with Jinana. “It’s a map of the school it seems. It also notifies you when someone opens your door which may be useful I suppose, in case anyone wants to take your belongings.”

 

“The only things in here are a plethora of candles and my notebook. I’m not worried about anyone robbing me. Although I guess it may provide peace of mind.” Jinana responded.

 

A voice rung out from behind them. “At least it’ll prevent creeps from breaking into our rooms!” Argilla. She walked in briskly and waved at the three. “It doesn’t look like there’s any way out in the women’s restroom, and I’d rather not check the men’s restroom but I assume it’s the same story. We’ve been provided with pretty great rooms, pretty much personalized to us, which is pretty cool.”

 

Argilla grabbed Serph and Sera by the hands. “Let’s go take a tour of my room!” she said, physically dragging them across the hall to the room right next to the one with Sera’s pixel. She pressed the button and led them in, along with Jinana who was trailing behind.

 

Despite none of them having slept in their rooms yet, Argilla’s was a mess. _Did someone sack the place?_

 

“Sorry about the mess, I was looking for clues or a way out so I kind of turned the place upsidedown, haha.” _That explains it_.

 

Jinana stood reclined on the doorway. “Don’t worry about it.” Jinana said with a smile, a genuine one this time. Argilla’s face flushed and she looked away to hide it.

 

Strewn about the floor were tank tops and tees and shorts and pajamas and all sorts of clothing. There was a jacket thrown over the vanity mirror. The room itself had a pink and grey motif, the floors with shaggy grey carpeting while the walls were a dry, muted shade of pink. The bed itself was already undone, with dark grey with a single pink stripe across it. All over the room were various succulents and plants, sitting on the tables and nightstands and one or two on the floor on their sides ( _She was nothing if not thorough_ , Serph mused). Scattered on the floor were manilla folders with pictures of endangered animals and the details of various protests throughout the years.

 

On her table there was also a ‘School Handbook’, loaded on the charging dock. Serph released his hand from Argilla’s grip and tiptoed around the sea of clothing until he reached it. He tapped the screen gently. No notification. It seems that it only notifies when someone other than the owner of the room opens the door. Do the buttons have thumbprint technology? State-of-the-art, just like everything else.

 

“Personally I wish it wasn’t so pink since I think it’d start getting on my nerves after a while, but hey, we aren’t staying here long anyway!” Argilla said. It didn’t look like she believed that herself. Serph quickly removed that thought from his mind.

 

Serph handed the tablet to Argilla, who stuck it on her back pocket. It stuck out a little awkwardly, but after awhile it’s not as uncomfortable. Sera stood atop a tank top that said ‘Bad Bitch’ while Argilla was hoping she wouldn’t look down when Sera spoke.

 

“Let’s check out my room next, I wonder what it’s like!” She was already bolting out of the room.

 

Luckily for them, Sera’s room was right next door. It was nothing more than a few steps into her room, which was already opened by the time everyone caught up to Sera. Inside was...a plain, average room. Littered around were stuffed animals of all shapes and sizes, some that looked like regular animals and some that were more abstract and monster-y (but still cute). Her School Handbook was neatly charging on the table much like everyone else's. Her bed was COVERED in stuffed animals to the point where the sheets weren’t even visible, all that could be seen was a grey ruffled comforter and a bump where the stuffed animals were a little higher where they assumed the pillow was. On the ceiling was a big outline of an eye, and on the floor was a lovely round red carpet with yellow tassels. It was sort of plain, but nice. Kind of like Sera.

 

Sera was sitting on her bed, dejected. She seemed disappointed. “Jinana’s room was so cool, why couldn’t mine be like hers.” she had a pouty look on, and the two older girls rushed to fix that.

 

“Don’t worry, I can give you some of the plants from my room! I have too many to maintain anyway, it’s no biggie Sera!” Argilla said, rushing to her side to pat her on the back.

 

Jinana walked in front of her and shifted her weight to her left side, looking around a little. “It’s not so bad, I find it quite nice. If you like, I’ll give you some of the candles from my room to give it ambiance.”

 

Sera was ecstatic. “Y-You don’t have to do all that! You’re both so nice...Thank you.” Her smile briefly made them forget their situation. Only briefly.

 

After transferring stuff from room to room and redecorating a little, Sera’s room became a hodgepodge. Succulents and candles on the table (Harley would shudder at the hazard), stuffed animals placed strategically around the room to fill the empty spaces, it was much more home-y now. Not that it was meant to be home.

 

After Sera looked like she could burst from happiness, she began. “U-Um. We should look at Serph’s room now. Maybe it could have hints about his forgotten memories?” Serph’s palms began to sweat.

 

“Would you like to do that Serph?” Argilla asked. He nodded as nonchalantly as he could.

 

His room was unfortunately on the opposite side, with most of the male dorms. Nestled between Gale and Roland’s dorms was an unassuming door, identical to all the others with a little pixel Serph smiling above it. That pixel probably knew more about him than he did.

 

Serph pressed the button himself and braced himself for what was to come...Which was nothing. The room was completely plain. The carpet matched the carpet on the outside. The walls were identical to the walls outside the room. He had a plain Student Handbook, and a shelf next to his plain grey bed. “ _They wouldn’t have made it that easy for me I guess.”_ Serph thought. Sera offered to help him decorate, to which Serph declined. He found the simplicity calming, to an extent.

 

In the room they found nothing of note besides Serph’s Student Handbook, which he took with him. They retreated to the lounge in the center of the dorms to reflect and relax.

 

“This experience must be giving you lot of ideas for poetry, huh Jinana?” Sera said, without an ounce of awareness. Jinana grunted sadly in response. They sat in silence for a little while until Serph concluded they should continue to explore, Sera still oblivious to the folly of what she said.

 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Checking the map on their Student Handbook made navigation much easier, but clearly didn’t help on the search for a way out. One of the points of interests was a location labelled ‘BARTENDER LAB’ in all caps on the blue digital display, Sera insisted they go there first to get it over with. Navigating the strange, seemingly shifting twists and turns of the halls they came across a room all on its lonesome in a secluded part of the school, apart from other classrooms with a blinking display that scrolled the same words on the map. The door itself was brown suede with white spots, Sera noted that it looked kind of like cow spots and giggled. Serph opened the door and led the way.

 

When they walked through the door, Roland looked up at them and flashed a smile, standing from the bar while cleaning a glass. “Welcome.” he said with an incredible sense of normalcy. It felt like they weren’t even trapped in a school anymore for a second. Just a second.

 

Everything was covered in a rich cherry wood paneling. The floors were a comforting-but-cheap red carpet. The parts of the walls not made of cherry wood had some cheap wallpaper you’d see anywhere with a boring, ugly mucky green pattern. The bar was...impressively stocked. You’d think it was any old bar if not for the incredible collection of fine vintages and expensive wines (Serph knew nothing about wine but he assumed it was all very magnificent). In front of the bar was a wooden divider with tacky red stools on the other side, sitting at one of the stools was Margot enjoying what Serph thought was champagne, but it looked a little too white.

 

Behind the stools was a standard pool table, set up and ready to go whenever. Serph thought to himself that he should have a match with Heat. “ _Why am I making plans for things to do in here, I should be making plans for stuff to do when I get out.”_ Serph quickly dispelled his pool game idea.

 

Beside the pool table, closer to the door, was a long, lovely antique mahogany table with a set of about eight chairs, three on each side and one at each end. On the opposite side of the pool table was a dart board with a few darts already in it (none in the bullseye).

 

On the wall across from the bar, closest to the table was a tiny wooden bookshelf, stocked with all kinds of books, from self help books to cookbooks to fantasy novels to plain old manga. It was a modest little collection, but an entertaining one at least. Next to it was a tacky little sofa with a cowprint pattern (Sera was right) with a lamp on the other side of it. Mick was seated on the sofa reading a book titled ‘ _Quantum Mechanics 4 Dummies_ ’.

 

It looked like it would be a nice place to hang out.

 

“I would offer you a virgin version of what Margot is drinking, but a _French 75_ without champagne and gin is just lemon juice and sugar. So lemonade.” Roland said dryly. Serph sat at the barstool one seat away from Margot. He didn’t know her well enough to sit just beside her, and he felt like it would be presumptuous.

 

“Do you want milk?” Roland offered. Serph and Sera nodded in response. “That was a trick question, you don’t drink milk at a bar unless you plan on saving Hyrule.” Roland joked. Sera pouted in response.

 

“I’m gonna make you a virgin _Pina Colada_.” his pronunciation was off, the ñ should be pronounced like ‘nya’ not like ‘nah’. Not that Serph could pronounce it either.

 

“And you little lady...Actually I’ll just give you the milk.” Roland conceded.

 

While Roland got to mixing the drink, Serph looked over at Margot who was sitting prim and pretty at the bar, looking _very_ out of place for her surroundings, but exuding a confidence that made her seem like she belonged there. She looked over at Serph and put a hand up in greeting.

 

“Fancy meeting you here.” Margot said.

 

“Not like he can go anywhere else, we’re kind of trapped here remember? Very few places he can go.” Roland added over the whir of a blender.

 

“Yes I’ve noticed, thank you for the reminder.” Margot said, with a tinge of friendly passive aggression. Mick could be heard mumbling something about how loud it was.

 

“Do you two know the origin of the _French 75?_ ” Serph and Sera shook their heads no in response.

 

“It’s origins are quite old, but it’s said that it was named as such because it was so strong that it felt like getting shot by a French 75mm field gun. Isn’t that interesting? Someone liked the drink so much that he compared it to an experience he had getting shot, and it stuck, just like that.” Roland was pouring Serph’s Piña Colada as he spoke. He embellished it with a little umbrella and a cherry. He poured a tall glass of milk for Sera but added a tiiiny bit of Vanilla syrup for flavor. Couldn’t just serve her plain milk you know. He put a red and white straw in it for her.

 

Serph took a sip of his drink and instantly enjoyed it. Serph loved coconut, and his drink was so expertly mixed, appropriate for the Ultimate Bartender. Sera drank some of her milk too. “It’s good, thank you!” Sera said. Roland just smiled and bowed his head a little.

 

“Personally? I’m a whiskey kind of guy, which you wouldn’t expect from someone who mixes complicated drinks for a living, haha. Although I guess anythings good so long as it can get you drunk.” Sera opened her mouth to protest but quickly shut her mouth.

 

“I didn’t have you pegged as a fruity drink kinda guy, but Margot? With that high society getup? She looks like she’s been having _Mimosas_ since she was in diapers.” Margot laughed in response, to which Serph noticed he hadn’t heard her laugh until then. It was kind of a weird ‘Ha Ha Ha’ laugh you’d expect from an old woman, Serph half expected her to start wheezing.

 

“I do enjoy champagne, but I have been on quite a few wine tasting excursions, I enjoy a good red.” Margot responded. Sera and Serph stayed quiet while the two discussed the intricacies of wine, from scent to taste to body to color. It was at the very least, entertaining. Sera looked bored. At least Roland and Margot got along well.

 

After what felt like an eternity of talking, silence fell, silence that of all people, Serph broke. “What do you think of all this?”

 

“I don’t get why this is happening, but I’m fine with staying here for awhile. I got all the booze I could want, and it’s not like I have places to be or people to see.” Roland stated. Mick’s ears perked up.

 

Margot clicked her tongue. “I’d rather not stay here long, but we have to prepare for a worst case scenario. We should set up curfews, wander in groups or pairs to discourage-- forgive me for my pessimism-- to discourage anyone from getting desperate and resorting to murder.”

 

Sera gasped. “D-Do you think anyone here would do that? Everyone seems so nice, do you think anyone here is capable of that?”

 

“In my line of work, you see the absolute worst in people regularly, dear. It’s better to be cautious, that way we can ensure everyone's safety.” Margot responded calmly.

Mick groaned and got up from the sofa, going toward the group. “It’s not like any of that matters. We’re not staying here long enough to need any of that shit because I’m gonna get us all out of here. You all may be cool with staying here, but the rest of us aren’t.”

 

Margot turned to him. “It would be wonderful if we could find a way out, but we should prepare for the possibility that we don’t. I would love nothing more than to leave this school, but if it doesn’t happen, I’d rather not die.” Margot pushed up her sunglasses. Just behind them, Serph could see how fierce her eyes were. So could Mick apparently, since he backed off.

 

“Want another Daiquiri, Mick?” Roland asked, trying to ease the tension in the room. Mick just nodded and said thanks under his breath. Serph and Sera finished their drinks and decided the best course of action was to continue the exploration (Roland insisted they stay for another ‘round’ of non-alcoholic beverages and uncomfortable tension, which they politely refused).

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

The closest blip on the map was only a hallway or two away, a room innocuously labelled ‘ ATHLETE LAB’ which is basically just a gym but sounded smarter. Not that the owner of said lab would care, it was Heat after all. The door was made of painted red steel and there was a strange scent wafting from inside...sweat. Sera pinched her nose and the two walked in.

 

Heat and Varin were bench pressing, while Lupa was spotting them. “In your face bitch! I hit 300 reps first!” Heat exclaimed.

 

“These were baby weights anyway! Only fifty pounds, what are you, a toddler?” Varin yelled back. “Besides, you only won this one! I won the push-up contest, and Lupa won the treadmill endurance contest, it’s a three way tie!”

 

“Then doesn’t that mean we all share the victory?” Lupa inquired. Heat and Varin both scoffed in response. Serph and Sera could smell them from the door, they’ve been at this for awhile.

 

Heat sat up from the bench and noticed the duo. “Yo Serph, you here to join the contest? You’re a little late though dude, haha!” Serph shook his head no. “Afraid you’ll lose? ‘S cool, I get it.”

 

Lupa cleared his throat. “There’s something of interest in the bathroom, I think you should check it out.”

 

“I sure left something of interest in there earlier!” Varin joked. Lupa sighed in response, but he did look like he was enjoying himself with the two.

 

The room was lined with state of the art exercise equipment. Machines, benches, weights, racks filled with resistance bands, jump ropes, stopwatches, everything one might possibly need for a good workout. There was an adjacent room with a display that read ‘COURT’, Serph could make out sports equipment like a basketball and a hoop in the darkness through the open door. At the far end was a door with a display that read ‘SHOWERS’. Right in front of the door was a leg press, haphazardly close to the door. Sera and Serph walked past Varin and Heat, arguing about who-knows-what toward the bathroom with Lupa.

 

On either side were bathroom stalls, two on each side. Right down the hall was the shower, which was communal, with shower heads all around the square room, and the floor lower than the rest of the room with a drain in the middle. One thing of note in the room was...A window at the far end of the showers, high enough that it was out of reach. It was completely barricaded, but little beams of light were peaking through. Could this be a way out?

 

...And seemingly out of nowhere, Schrodinger materialized.

 

“Off limits. Off limits. Nyan.”

 

“Did you just change your speech quirk?” Lupa asked.

 

“Meow. Nyavermind that now. Stay away from the window or be punished. I’ll turn you into butter and spread you on my morning toast.”

 

“Cats don’t eat toast!” Sera added.

 

Heat could be heard yelling as he approached. “Hey you don’t have thumbs either you, can’t spread anything on toast!”

 

“Meow. I’m sweating. You got me. I’ve been found out. I have to let you all go.”

 

“Really?!” Sera asked.

 

“No not at all.” and with that, Schrodinger disappeared again. _“What a cryptic cat. Heh. That rhymes.”_ Serph thought.

 

“.....Anyway that was dumb as fuck. -Whatever, me, Lupa and Varin tried opening the barricaded window or looking through it but we had no luck. It doesn’t look like it’ll budge, but I guess we can still tell the others later.” Heat shifted his weight around as he spoke.

 

Varin could be heard from afar. “Hey O’Brien, you gonna get back here or are you giving up because you know you’d lose? C’mon soldier!” Heat made an annoyed expression and ran back to the main room.

 

Lupa tilted his head at the door to the main area of the gym and waved a hand at the two to follow them. “Did you find anything of note in your searches?” Lupa asked.

 

“We found personalized dorms, a lounge, and a bar! Gale mentioned an infirmary earlier and-- Oh, and we found two blocked off doors in the auditorium, but they don’t look like they lead out…” Sera looked downcast. “Oh! The dorms also have these cool little tablets with maps on them that let you know when someone opens your door!”

 

“Hmm. It seems they’ve filled this place with all the amenities we’d need to live comfortably and somewhat happily. Why would they go to such lengths if they only intended to force us to kill each other though…? Regardless, I don’t think they’ll make finding a way out as easy as climbing out the bathroom window on a bad date. I still suggest we keep looking.”

 

“Has that bad date thing ever happened to you Lupa?” Sera questioned.

 

“No.”

 

Serph snickered at the exchange.

 

After nearly an hour of trying to diffuse arguments over pointless things between Varin and Heat (much to Lupa’s chagrin) the duo finally found a chance to escape while Heat and Varin argued over what kind of fruit is objectively superior (?).

 

Heat began. “Man what the fuck are you talking about! Get your ass out of your ears mangoes are the best!”

 

“Maybe for a pansy like you, bananas are a MAN’S fruit!” Varin retorted.

 

“Mango literally has man in the name-- wait did you just say bananas are a man’s fruit--”

 

Lupa interjected. “Personally I enjoy cherry tomatoes--”

 

“Those aren’t fruit!” Heat and Varin yelled back in unison.

 

Sera and Serph slowly snuck out while the three attacked each other mercilessly over fruit.

 

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Closest blip on the map was a room titled ‘KARMA GASHAPON’ a hop, skip and jump away. The door had a ‘smiling’ kitty face on it with a text bubble that read ‘meow!’.

 

The inside of the room was fairly small. The walls were lined with strange knick knacks behind glass cases, with a birth of Venus painting with cat ears drawn on her. To the side was a vending machine filled with snacks. On top of the counter (which no one was manning) was a machine titled ‘KARMA GASHAPON’, just like the map said. Serph was intrigued, so he fished around his pocket for a coin and decided to try his luck.

 

He stuck the coin in and turned the knob and out came...A fortune cat figurine. With very cute but somewhat terrifying eyes. The head was removable though, thankfully, since it doubled as a USB stick. Serph knew EXACTLY who to give it to.

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

The next room they chose to go to was arguably the most important one if they had to live there _which they wouldn’t:_ the cafeteria. The display above the door noted it as such. The door was plain white, like most of the others in the school. You’d miss it if not for the display.

 

It was your standard cafeteria, except extremely sterile and white like everything else in this damnable school. There were digital panels on the tables for god knows what and normal bench seats for the tables. Cielo was eating a sandwich at one of the tables and waved them over with a cheerful ‘Yo!’. The two went to his side.

 

“Sup guys, I’m having a PB&J sandwich, grilled of course!” It looked a little burnt, but Cielo didn’t seem to mind. Who ate grilled PB&J anyway…?

 

“That sounds delicious!” Sera chimed in.

 

“For sure! Hey brudda, the kitchen is fully stocked! Can you believe it! The pantry has every kind of chip you can think of, even those hard to find discontinued ones! They had ketchup flavored chips which made me gag a little and--”

 

“Ketchup chips? I don’t like spicy stuff that much…” Cielo looked at Sera with very tired eyes.

 

“Err...Anyways. Wouldn’t it be cool if we had a chef or something! Do you think anyone here knows how to cook? Probably not, most of the people here look like they subsist on easy mac and ramen noodles.”

 

Serph sighed.

 

“Thankfully in the kitchen there’s-- hold on let me show you guys!” Cielo grabbed the two by their wrists and dragged them toward the kitchen, surprisingly strong for his tiny little frame.

 

The kitchen was immense. Pantries, a walk in freezer, an enormous walk-in fridge, stoves, ovens, pretty much everything one would need. On the stove was a dirty skillet, most likely left by Cielo. The stove was still on, which Cielo hurriedly went to turn off with an embarrassed expression.

 

There was a bookshelf which one wouldn’t expect in the kitchen and it was filled with….cookbooks! Serph remembered seeing one or two in Roland’s lab and briefly wondered if they came from here. All kinds, from dessert making to candy making to breakfast, lunch, and dinner. One could effectively learn how to become an _Ultimate Chef_ using these. Serph wondered if there was someone like that already.

 

“I was thinking maybe I could try to set up breakfast tomorrow! ‘Could help ease the tension, y’know?” Cielo suggested.

 

“A-And I could help! Maybe we can get Lupa to help too!” Sera’s eyes beamed.

 

“Fo’ sure! It’ll be great, we can make pancakes and eggs and bacon and…” Cielo trailed off, virtually listing every breakfast food, to the point where it sounded more like a three course meal than a breakfast.

 

“We’ll have to wake up early to get to work, that’s no problem for me though, I’m a biiig morning person!” Cielo said.

 

The two discussed their breakfast plans, and after Serph somewhat successfully convinced them not to make fried ice cream for breakfast he told Cielo they had to go continue exploring.

 

“Oh yeah, I was supposed to find a way out wasn’t I...Well how about I tag along with you guys for now!” and so the duo became a trio, and they went off to the next locale.

 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

There were only two notable locations they hadn’t yet explored, a location titled ‘REC ROOM’ and one titled ‘TRIAL GROUNDS’, the lettering for the latter in bold, striking red. It seemed rather ominous. Cielo insisted they go to the Rec Room first.

 

The door was black except for a red dot in the center, akin to a record button (even though the ‘Rec’ in ‘Rec Room’ stands for ‘Recreation’, not ‘Record’).

 

The lighting was a little dark, but in a comforting way. The walls were a friendly dim green, making it feel like you weren’t in the school at all. The shelves on the wall were filled with all kinds of board games, _Monopoly, Clue_ (appropriate for the setting), _Scrabble_ , all kinds. There was a sofa and some beanbags near the corner of the room facing a large TV with a DVD, along with a bunch of different consoles. There was a tiny stand beside it filled with all sorts of games and movies from all genres. There was a snack bar along with a mini fridge, presumably filled with drinks. All in all it looked like it would be a fun place to be. Cielo and Sera were completely ecstatic.

 

“Dude they have Mario Party! That’s probably more friendship breaking than this killing game!” Cielo joked. Sera laughed really hard at that. Serph just chuckled a little.

 

“It would take like, a hundred years to watch and play everything they got in here!” Cielo mused. Actually, it looked like it would take much longer, but Serph didn’t want to get into the logistics of how long it would take for that, so he stayed quiet as usual. Lord knows he already looked dry and humorless as is.

 

“The TV...Do you think it would show us the outside world?” Serph suggested.

 

Cielo and Sera looked at each other with a gasp and scrambled to turn the TV on. Static. Must only be there for games and movies. The three sighed in unison.

 

“I think I’m gonna chill out here for now- I mean, I’ll uhh...investigate the Rec Room yeah, that’s it!” Cielo cheered out with a fist in the air. He jumped into a beanbag with a thud and let himself sink in.

 

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Last but certainly not least, the trial grounds. The hallway leading to it was long and lined with ominous purple lights, seemingly turning the white walls a muted lilac. At the end of the hall was a large double door with gold trim and indentations at the corners of it, giving it depth and filled with the lilac light, making it look much darker than it is.

 

Inside was a simple white walkway with seemingly endless pits all around that led to another pit in the center. A dead end?

 

Jenna and Gale were investigating it when they arrived, looking into the cavernous hole. They both looked so smart and professional. Two peas in a pod. As if sensing their approach, Jenna hollered at them. “No, I don’t know whether there’s an exit here, and yes, I’m trying to figure it out. Go bother someone else.” Gale sighed and pushed up the bridge of his nose.

 

Sera flinched a little, but the two still approached.

 

“Did you find anything of note? We’ve gotten much exploration done. We passed by the dormitories as well as the infirmary and we’ve been here since then.” Gale explained, much more friendly than his companion. His friendliness seemed to irk her.

Serph told them about the window in the bathroom, the locked doors in the auditorium, as well as about the different rooms they encountered. Told Gale rather, Jenna didn’t care to look at him and continued her inspection while listening.

 

“Hmm. I don’t believe the window would offer us any way out. It’s most likely a red herring to keep us distracted. You said Schrodinger threatened to punish you when you investigated it, yes? Yet such a thing isn’t mentioned in the rules at all...” Gale held his chin in his hand.

 

“Whatever Schrodinger says are the rules, aren’t they? Doesn’t that mean he can just make up new ones?” Sera asked.

 

“...Well, yes and no. I’m referring to-”

 

“-You got your Student Handbooks and you didn’t check them at all?” Jenna scoffed, moving from her spot next to the pit to scowl at the other two. “Did you make any effort to investigate or did you just run around like chickens with your heads cut off?”

 

Sera flinched, and Serph opened his mouth to retort before being interrupted by Gale, his voice as even as usual. “What Angel is referring to are the written rules in your Student Handbooks. There are a few rules Schrodinger already mentioned, such as the one regarding our ‘reaching Nirvana’, as he so put it, but it goes into quite a bit of detail on what that actually entails, as well as some other rules.”

 

“You can check them yourself, you know.” Jenna said, her arms crossed as she watched them both intently. Gale sighed.

 

Serph opened up his student handbook and swiped through the icons available. Past the map was a basic student profile of everyone else, (though he can check that later) and past that were the rules. Sera leaned over his shoulder, and read the rules outloud, more for their benefit than Gale or Jenna’s.

 

  1. Night time runs between 10pm and 8am, and the auditorium and cafeteria is off-limits during that time
  2. No attacking the headmaster (aka, I, Schrodinger)
  3. You can only sleep in a dorm room
  4. While the dorm rooms open for anyone, if a dorm room is opened by another student, then the owner of that dorm is notified immediately.



 

Sera paused, and looked up at the other two. “Oh! We knew that one already, actually!”

 

“Great.” Jenna went back to investigate sometime during Sera’s reading, examining the structure of pillars over the pit. “At least you managed to figure that out on your own.”

 

“I believe it’s a safeguard against robbery, or even murder attempts. A notification on the school handbook would be quite the glaring evidence for any would-be blackeneds. Though that makes me wonder why they don’t just simply lock the dorms for all but it’s owner…”

 

“Uh...Blackened?”

 

“Save your questions and keep reading.” Jenna interrupted, and Sera reluctantly let her gaze fall back to the tablet to keep doing so.

  1. You must kill someone to reach Nirvana, or in other words, leave the school
  2. Once a dead body is found by 3 or more people, a body discovery announcement will be played
  3. After a set amount of time to investigate, a class trial will be held to pit the culprit, named the blackened, against the rest of the class
  4. If the innocent class manages to guess the blackened correctly, only the blackened will be punished
  5. If the innocent class guesses wrong, then everyone besides the blackened will be punished
  6. Breaking of any of these rules lead to punishment, of course meaning, death.



 

Sera’s voice faltered as she continued to read, her voice barely above a whisper when she uttered the last of the rules. She was shaking, and Serph put a hand on her shoulder reassuringly, though he didn’t seem to be taking the news much better. The room was uncomfortably quiet, before Jenna clapped her hands once to snap their attention to her.

 

“Do you understand the situation we’re in now?” she seethed. “Whoever set this up obviously intends for us to play out this sick game.”

 

Gale looked over at Jenna, his eyebrows furrowing a bit. Serph noticed she did seem more on-edge than usual, though Gale didn’t make a comment on it, instead, turning back to Serph and Sera. “...You two mentioned visiting the Athlete and Bartender labs, correct? Then we can conclude that there are most likely personalized labs for all the rest of us as well. The two barricaded doors you mentioned must also be a lab, but for who, I wonder?”

 

Gale’s voice was as calming as ever, and even in the worse of situations, he seemed so unaffected. Serph wondered if that was why Angel spent so much time around him. Though it didn’t seem to be helping her much right now.

 

Jenna didn’t move her gaze as she spoke, “The map labeled this place as the trial grounds, yet there’s nothing here that could indicate that. The pillars here obviously lead down there but…”

 

“Perhaps a lift?” Gale suggested. “Though the mechanics of a lift is missing completely, there are no pulleys, no wires, and not even a button.”

 

“But we can conclude one thing, we’re not meant to be here yet.” Jenna stepped back from the chasm and walked to stand next to the others. “But I don’t intend on staying here long enough to find out.”

 

“All logical evidence would point to the conclusion that this place is inescapable though, Angel.” Jenna didn’t look at him, and Sera looked between the two nervously.

 

Gale didn’t seem to notice however, continuing to speak in his usual, clinical way. “Considering whoever organized this went through all the trouble of doing all this...It doesn’t seem as though we’ll find a way out at all. They were incredibly thorough in every regard, going as far as giving us personalized rooms and labs to hone and maintain our talents. The intention is to get us to murder each other, obviously, but is it possible to live here peacefully, you think?”

 

Jenna turned to glare at him. “No matter how state-of-the-art this place is, I can _not_ stay here. I have much to do and accomplish, and _none_ of you can hope to understand that.”

 

Sera opened her mouth to interject, and immediately closed it, realizing that there’s not much she can do at this point. Jenna stormed off, leaving the three in the empty room with nothing but silence to fill the air.

 

Gale sighed. “...She seems mad at me.”

 

Serph resisted the urge to roll his eyes. _You think?_

 

“Um, is it okay to leave her like that?” Sera frowned, looking over at the exit of the room. “I-I don’t think she would-”

 

“No, she won’t. I’ve been with her since we woke, and while she is intent on getting out, I doubt she would succumb to these rules that easily.” Gale touched the bridge of his nose. _What an odd habit._

 

“I don’t think we have any reason to stay here, so if you don’t mind, shall we return to the dorms?”

 

Serph and Sera nodded immediately, thankful for any excuse to go back to their rooms and out of the foreboding room once and for all.

 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Upon arriving back to the dormitory, there was a veritable sea of people discussing their finds. Most of them on the very large center sofa.

 

Argilla was sitting criss-cross with Cielo and Jinana on either side, Jinana sat with her legs crossed. Bat was standing behind the sofa, near Jinana. Roland was sitting next to Margot with a bored expression on his face while Margot spoke in her usual courteous manner. Sitting across from her, Mick was arguing with her about something or another. Next to him was Heat, who was talking about something (likely stupid) with Varin, who had his arm around Harley for whatever reason, and next to Harley was Lupa. Jenna, social as ever, retreated to her room in a huff, as opposed to Gale who stayed awkwardly standing to the side. Serph and Sera’s arrival took everyone’s attention, earning a greeting from the ensemble of Ultimates.

 

Varin spoke up first. “Don’t mind him, he wouldn’t shut up so I convinced him I’d keep him safe.” Harley seemed less nervous.

 

Cielo got you up to speed. Everyone was aware of the rooms in the auditorium and the blocked off window in the Athlete Lab, but everyone except Mick agreed it was a dead end.

 

“If you give me some time I can at least figure SOMETHING out with the window...There has to be a clue or some shit, there can’t be no reason for it being there.” Mick said. Serph noted the double negative, but didn’t say anything.

 

“If this discussion is finished, I would like to go prepare dinner for us all. Would anyone care to join me?” Lupa asked. Everyone stayed silent.

 

“I would but...I’m a little tired, I think I’m gonna rest a bit. Are you going to help us prepare breakfast tomorrow morning?” Sera said. Lupa nodded in response. Poor bastard is going to be run into the ground by Sera and Cielo tomorrow.

 

“Perhaps you should all get some rest in the meantime. Today has been rather...overwhelming to say the least.” Lupa said. No one protested and instead returned to their quarters (Argilla went into Jinana’s).

 

Serph went to his empty, boring, featureless room. He remembered the strange little cat USB he got earlier...Oh yeah. He was going to give it to that person.

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

He knocked on their door, since it would be rude to just press the button and enter.

 

“Ah, hello. Is there something I can help you with?” Gale said.

 

Serph stuck his hand out with the strange little cat USB, hoping they’d find it useful or at least amusing.

 

“Oh, is this for me? You can never have too many USBs you know. They’re invaluable for storing data and the portable nature of them is incredibly convenient. You have my gratitude.” Gale said in turn. He didn’t seem to notice the cute design, or he just didn’t care enough to point it out. Such is life.

 

“You know, we’re one in the same. We’re both difficult with expression, perhaps the two of us could work on that together?” Gale suggested. His tone didn’t falter or change from his usual monotone. They really were similar.

 

“Maybe we could watch a sad movie on the Rec Room.” Serph said. Gale responded with a nod, and that was that.

 

The pair went to the Rec Room and surveyed the movies on the shelf.

 

“Is _The Room_ a sad movie?” Gale asked. Serph shook his head.

 

“It’s sad in an ‘it’s bad’ way.”

 

“Ah.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“How about _Shrek 3_ ?”   


“Not that one either, Gale.”

 

After a VERY long search and Serph having to explain to Gale what a sad movie was, they settled on _Bambi._ Which was….uneventful as one would assume with a pair as emotionally stunted as Serph and Gale. At least, until Bambi’s mother died. Tears started rolling down Serph’s cheeks, his expression unchanging still. Gale looked at him in surprise.

 

“Is this making you...sad?” Gale asked.

 

Serph nodded, watching Bambi mourn and leave with the stag.

 

“I... do not comprehend. Why emphasize with fictional characters to such an extent, let alone fictional animals. Logically, this shouldn’t invoke an emotional response.” Gale explained.

 

“It’s not a matter of it being fiction, it’s just a feeling I suppose. You just feel...bad and cry as a response. Like cause and effect.” Serph responded.

 

Gale seemed intrigued. “This requires further inspection. Perhaps we should watch another ‘sad movie’ sometime, with humans next time maybe?” Gale asked.

 

“It’s just as sad with animals, maybe even sadder, but maybe you’ll be able to emphasize better with other humans, maybe a sad robot movie like _Wall-E_?” Serph joked. Gale didn’t seem to find it funny. He didn’t really find much of anything funny.

 

Serph didn’t fully understand Gale, but he felt like they could be good friends regardless. They share their difficulty talking to others and maybe together they could work on that, or at least have difficulty talking to others together. They both retreated to their dorms to await dinner together.

 

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

The mood at dinner was...tense to say the least. There was discomfort in the air, it was their first night locked in the school after all. Lupa made a remarkably delicious and hearty stew, filled to the brim with meat, potatoes, and all sorts of vegetables. At the very least, it was great comfort food.

 

Argilla and Jinana kept to themselves as always, and there were few conversations going on. The room stayed quiet outside of the occasional outburst between Heat and Varin and the quiet conversation, until everyone finished eating and went back to their dorms. A few people stayed in the lounge until the announcement bell rang.

 

“Meow. The time is now 10 PM.” Schrodinger appeared on Serph’s dorm TV, and likely everyone else’s. Serph sank into his bed, exhausted. His mind was racing with all sorts of thoughts, thoughts of the people he had met, the situation he was in, the strange cat forcing them all to do it and just who might be controlling the whole shindig. He shut his eyes. Serph usually had trouble sleeping on the best of nights, but with so much to think about it only made it more difficult. He briefly considered going to Sera’s room and conversing with her, but he assumed she’d already be asleep. She spent the whole dinner yawning into her stew. All he could do was wait until sleep took him and hope that when he woke up, he’d be somewhere else.

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> expect chapter 1-2 in a week and some change, if you're actually enjoying this let me know give me the validation i crave, this was finished in a sleep depraved exhausted state so if you see any mistakes tell me so i can fix them pwease


	3. 1-2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Serph spends time with his classmates and hangs out with the guys.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It took a little longer than I expected bc I've been busy with work but...here you go 3 people who are actually reading this

Serph jolted awake in a cold sweat. For a split second he expected to wake up at home, and a fuzzy memory played at the edge of his mind. He remembered his bed, with the sunlight streaming through the windows, only broken by a plain white curtain. As the static image faded out, he quickly remembered where he was. He threw his legs over the side of his bed and sat with his head in his hands. He sighed, crestfallen. He felt as though he hadn’t slept a wink, his night troubled with nightmares. He didn’t even fall asleep until incredibly late. Sitting in his new room in the artificial lighting, it really hit him just how much he missed the warmth of the morning sun.

 

Serph decided it would be better to sulk in the lounge than to sulk in his room, so he made his way to the lounge. It seems he wasn’t the first to wake up, as Harley, Lupa, Sera, and Cielo were already up and sitting around on the couches. Cielo was happily chirping at Sera while Lupa watched over them all like a caretaker. Poor Harley looked as if he hadn’t slept at all, deep bags under his eyes and his red-orange hair looking more unkempt than usual. Serph took a seat next to Sera, across from Lupa.

 

“Morning brudda!” Cielo cheered out. Lupa put his finger to his lips to remind him that people were still sleeping, and he mouthed an apology.

 

“How’d you sleep? I slept GREAT, I mean I can pretty much fall asleep anywhere, but I was out like a log bro!” Cielo explained, his voice slowly raising in volume as he spoke. Lupa gave up trying to shush him, he seemed to enjoy seeing Cielo in such high spirits.

 

Serph simply shrugged in response. “Didn’t sleep too good? That’s alright, take a power nap later! Sleep the day away I always say, hehe.” Serph chuckled in response.

 

Varin slowly shuffled into the room and waved at everyone, getting muffled ‘hellos’ in response. Harley seemed less tense when he arrived. “Couldn’t get any damn sleep, I could hear Heat’s snoring from my room, it’s like being inside a jet engine.” Varin complained. The mental image of Heat with drool falling out of his mouth, snoring at a cacophonous volume with his arm off the side of his bed made Serph laugh to himself.

 

Varin sat next to Harley, who smiled at him. He didn’t acknowledge it, but Harley didn’t seem to mind and seemed content regardless. “How’d you sleep soldier?” Varin asked Harley, who simply shook his head in response. “...’M sorry.” was all Varin could mutter in reply. Serph didn’t think he had a kind side like that. _Guess you shouldn’t judge a book by it’s liberty blue cover._

 

“We should go prepare breakfast soon.” Lupa suggested, glancing over to Cielo and Sera.

 

“Yeah! I got this great idea for pancakes I wanna try!” Sera revealed, clapping her hands happily. Serph could only imagine what terrible things she and Cielo had planned. It was like giving children free reign of a Michelin Star kitchen- terrifying and somewhat intriguing.

 

Jinana arrived next, a quiet chorus of ‘good mornings’ and ‘hellos’ following her arrival. She nodded in response and sat down on the lounge couch, not really sitting close to anyone and looking off with her chin in her hand. She was even more quiet without Argilla around, and she seemed lost in thought. She was a rather introspective woman. Serph thought back to the dreams that kept him restless at night.

 

_The silhouette of a man sprinted toward Serph and stabbed him through his chest with a blade-like arm, piercing his stomach like wet tissue. He seemed confused about Serph not reacting. Serph was confused as well, but he didn’t regret it. Serph tugged him into the chasm behind them and together they fell and fell and fell, and right before he hit the ground—_

 

“They say that means you’ve died in another life.” Sera stated as a matter of fact. She was staring right at him as she said so, and everyone followed her gaze, looking at him strangely. _Is this the Ultimate Seer’s ability? Well she did always seem to know what I’m thinking._

 

When she noticed her outburst, she immediately broke her gaze and looked downward. “I...I had strange dreams too.” She said, her tone turning much more dry. “I kept waking up and every time I’d go back to sleep, I’d dream about something different. Dreams of endless rain and yellow skies.” She seemed wistful.

 

The atmosphere of the of the room felt a little heavy then, and in the silence- “Hunger.” Jinana spoke up, to everyone’s surprise. “Unquenchable hunger,” she continued, her voice heavy. ”And I couldn’t eat. No...I didn’t want to. The pit of my stomach was constantly churning, begging for sustenance, but I had to ignore it as best I could...Forgive me for speaking out of turn.”

 

“I dreamt that I was in the sewers. No matter how much I walked, there didn’t seem to be any way out. It felt so hopeless, but I felt like I had to keep going, no matter what.” Lupa interposed.

 

“Z-Zebras. As far as the eye could see. I was really scared of them but I didn’t know why. All I could see was black and white stripes.” Harley interjected. Varin closed his eyes solemnly.

 

“I would give you all some interesting dream story, but I didn’t get any goddamn sleep because of Heat’s loud ass snores.” and here Serph thought he’d say something profound. _I guess you can judge a book by it’s liberty blue cover. Sometimes._

 

Heat burst out of his room, wearing a pair of sleep shorts and a grey tank top. Serph noticed he had a peculiar tattoo on his bicep... After an extremely loud yawn, he spoke. “What was that asshole? Wanna say that again to my face?” Despite his inflammatory words, he plopped himself down next to Varin, spreading his legs out and taking up as much space as physically possible. “We talking about dreams or some shit? Cool, I had a dream that I wrestled these sick flaming tigers, after I beat I made them my pets and--”

 

“Dammit Heat this ain’t show and tell, shut your mouth for a minute or two!” Varin interrupted. The two started arguing with each other as usual over whether or not Heat could actually beat a flaming tiger in a fight (?), Cielo was unphased and interjected.

 

“That’s cool brudda! I had a great dream too, I was flying around like a plane alongside these state of the art jet engines! I was doing all the tricks I normally do but without the actual plane, I wish I hadn’t woken up!” He spoke cheerfully as usual.

 

“If you hadn’t woken up, you would’ve been dead.” Jinana said dryly.

 

“Geez way to kill the mood Jane Lane. Don’t you have a cemetery to have a picnic on?” Heat barked. Varin high fived him.

 

“Don’t _you_ have some math classes to fail?” Jinana retorted. Serph didn’t think she had it in her. Serph thought he saw Lupa smile for a moment.

 

“Heat, be nice to Jinana!” Sera chimed in.

 

 **“Heat if you don’t shut up I swear I’ll break both of your arms!”** Argilla yelled from her room. _How on earth did she hear that, her room wasn’t even that close to the lounge_. Jinana smirked at Heat for a second, who crossed his arms and shut up. The Ultimate Athlete intimidated by the Ultimate Activist...funny.

 

Argilla left her room, hair completely disheveled with her flip-flops making _plap_ noises with each step. She sat next to Jinana, who immediately began fixing her hair without a word. It’s nice how quickly they began to get along.

 

“Sera, Cielo. Let’s go prepare breakfast before the others get up.” Lupa said. Cielo and Sera waved goodbye and the three wordlessly left the room, Sera humming that tune she sang before. _If only the others knew what was in store._

 

“Breakfast sounds great! I’m starved honestly, I’m excited to see what Lupa’ll cook up today!” Argilla cheered out. _You sweet fool, I wish I could warn you._

 

Margot emerged from her room, fully dressed, her sunglasses and all. She bowed her head and greeted the group. “How is everyone doing?” which earned mixed responses, many of which mumbled too quiet to hear.

 

“Hm, yes. May I ask, has anyone noticed that Schrodinger rarely appears? I was thinking earlier, and it gives me the idea that he’s just silently observing us as opposed to taking an active hand. Would that mean if we just continued to live here peacefully, he wouldn’t appear anymore at all?” Margot suggested. Serph agreed, but it was too early for intense thought for the rest of the group, so everyone just kind of murmured in agreement.

 

Margot spotted Argilla lazily spreading herself out on the couch, still in her pajamas. “Argilla, don’t you know what time it is? Get yourself dressed, the others will be getting up soon.”

 

“Yes mom- I mean ma’am- I mean Margot!” Argilla flushed and sprinted to her room to change. Right when she did, the announcement bell rang.

 

_Meow. The time is now 8 AM. Rise and shine kittens._

“Who you callin’ a kitten?” Heat yelled at the PA as if Schrodinger could hear him, he actually did hear though because another announcement rang.

 

_Meow. You’re a kitten Heat. A cute cuddly kitten with fuzzy red fur._

 

“Heard that Harley? Heat’s a kitten.” Varin chuckled. Heat gritted his teeth and prepared to start swinging his fists when Margot shot him a particularly fierce look. He promptly crossed his arms and sat back down. Harley seemed to find it amusing, and giggled softly to himself. The announcement managed to get the last few people out of their rooms, and Mick, Jenna, Gale, Roland, and Bat all emerged from their doors with varying amounts of exhaustion on their faces. Bat, Mick and Jenna looked _especially_ annoyed, while Roland just looked very tired. Gale looked like he always does, his expression as neutral as ever. _“Does he even need sleep?”_ Serph wondered.

 

Despite their little tiff the night before, Jenna and Gale still gravitated toward each other the second they woke up, giving each other a nod and walking together in silence. She didn’t _look_ happier around him, Serph hadn’t actually seen her happy yet, but at the very least she looked less abrasive. Mick and Roland were having some small talk away from the group and Bat lingered around Jinana without speaking. He looked like he was having difficulty making friends, Serph almost felt bad for him.

 

The quiet murmurs and small talk was cut off when Cielo burst into the room. “Mornin’ everyone! Breakfast is ready so you better get a move on before it gets cold!”. He was panting a little, evidently from running up the dorm concourse stairs but his excitement radiated from his entire being regardless. He hopped down the stairs and everyone followed after him to the cafeteria at varying speeds, with Heat and Varin far ahead of the pack. Trailing near the back was Mick, Jenna, and Gale, discussing the viability of breaking through the walls to get out.

 

The table was covered end to end in food when they got there. Chocolate chip pancakes topped with whipped cream and sprinkles, and drizzled in chocolate and caramel on top of that. A veritable _mountain_ of bacon. Some plain oatmeal for people who enjoy a simple breakfast (so, Margot), an absurd amount of blueberry muffins, too many doughnuts to count, eggs that could supply a whole hen pen, and a trapeze of sausages. Serph wasn’t expecting a normal breakfast, but the sheer variety was still a surprise for him. He briefly wondered if Lupa was the one that kept them on task and gently nudged Cielo and Sera toward the ‘healthy’ options. He supposed that’s the talent of an Ultimate Camp Counsellor. It looks like they compromised on the pancakes though.

 

“These pancakes could kill a diabetic in one bite.” Bat said, looking at the confectionary hazard.

 

“Then don’t eat ‘em brudda!”

 

“Well I didn’t say I didn’t want any, I was just stating facts!” Bat retorted.

 

Everyone started to fill their plates (except Margot who poured herself a cup of coffee and a bowl of oatmeal) and seated themselves around the table. The mood was much happier than last night’s dinner, and there was friendly banter and conversation all around on all sorts of things.

 

“H-Hey Mick you’re the Ultimate Architect right? C-Can jet fuel _really_ melt steel beams?” Harley asked, completely in earnest.

 

“Are...you just fucking stupid?” Mick responded. Harley made a dejected noise and Varin shot Mick a glare. Mick sighed in response.

 

“No Harley. Jet fuel cannot melt steel beams.” Harley made a sound of relief and contentedly went back to eating.

 

“Hey O’Brien, wanna race to see who can eat the most sausages?” Varin said (while already filling his plate with more sausages regardless).

 

“Hell yeah! I’m a master at eating sausages!” Heat exclaimed, with absolutely no self awareness as per usual. Argilla looked at them and then looked at Serph. Serph shrugged.

 

Jinana ate about half a pancake before saying she was full, and Argilla proceeded to fuss over her until she ate more (the other half of said pancake), which left Argilla satisfied enough.

 

Gale had a simple breakfast of scrambled eggs and coffee, and even the way he cut his eggs into smaller bites was methodical. He was a strange man. Jenna seemed particularly disgusted at everything on the table (perhaps because Sera had a hand in it) and just had a muffin and some orange juice. The two sat afar from everyone else, quietly engaging in conversation.

 

As the breakfast went on, Serph noticed Sera take a breath in, and quietly clapped her hands to herself. “I-I hope-” she trailed off, then repeated: “I-I hope everyone enjoys the breakfast we made! We couldn’t have done it without Lupa, he did the bulk of the actual cooking but…”

 

“I would not have made breakfast if not for your suggestion. Take credit where credit is due, please.” Lupa said. “You greased the wheels, I simply drove the car.” _What kind of a metaphor was that?_

 

“Could do with some mimosas, at least for Margot and I anyway...Err, it’s a good breakfast though, don’t mind me.” Roland said, waving away his previous statement.

 

Margot raised her glass and clinked it with a spoon. “If we’re making announcements at the moment, then I have something important that I’d like to discuss with you all.”

 

The room fell silent, and all attention turned to her. She smiled, and gave a quick bow before placing the glass down to continue speaking, her posture and grace apparent in every move she makes. “I’m sure everyone found this breakfast enjoyable, and you have our lovely classmates Lupa, Cielo, and Sera to thank. I suggest we do this every morning, perhaps not to this extent, of course.” Margot’s smile faded, and even behind her sunglasses, her hard gaze was felt. “If we hold a breakfast like this every morning, everyone will be accounted for, therefore it may deter more...unsavory events from occurring. As nighttime is the most vulnerable time for us all, having these breakfasts could be an occasion to give ourselves a chance to not only exchange information, but to also keep track of each other. As they say, there is safety in numbers.”

 

The room’s atmosphere was heavy once their situation was brought up, but no one could deny that Margot was right. Despite the murmuring, everyone seemed to agree, bar Jenna and Bat, who were both glaring at her.

 

“Madame Cuvier, you must be joking. You don’t expect me to attend breakfast with these... _dregs_ of society, do you? And to keep track of us? What are we, kindergarteners?” Jenna spoke with respect to Cuvier, but Serph could hear a hint of disgust in the last sentence.

 

“I’m with her, almost all of you are fucking losers!” Bat yelled out. “And I don’t want to wake up at 8am all the time!”

 

Jenna gestured to Bat with her hands. “See Madame Margot? Exhibit A!”

 

“Jenna dear, this is for your own safety. Don’t take my concern for you as an offense, I simply do this as a temporary measure until we’re able to get out of here.” Margot spoke softly, her tone maternal and understanding. Jenna crossed her arms and pouted, but begrudgingly accepted it. As soon as Margot turned to talk to someone else about other matters, Bat moved closer to Jenna to complain to her about the whole situation. Jenna didn’t respond but she nodded between sips of her coffee, clearly content that _someone_ agreed with her on her vitriolic opinions (even if she did throw him under the bus).

 

There was a bit of silence and scattered small-talk after that, and in the daze Serph recalled something he saw earlier and wanted to confirm his suspicions. “Does everyone have strange tattoos they don’t recall getting?” he said.

 

After a few moments, a chorus of agreements followed his question with everyone cutting in with their own statement about their own tattoo, bar Margot who said she didn’t have one.

“Now dat I think about it, I did see a cool tattoo on my thigh! It kinda looks like a rainbow, don’t you think?” Cielo lifted the hem of his shorts to show it off.

 

“I have one on my arm- it’s not my style at all but I always wanted a tattoo!” Bat beamed. “I have no idea what the hell’s this supposed to be though.”

 

“Y’know, I have one too.” Roland said, gazing at the back of his outstretched hand. “I didn’t really think about it, but...it is really weird. They don’t even really look like anything”

 

“I only noticed mine as I was changing into my nightgown.” Jinana murmured. “It’s in...quite an unfortunate place so I apologize if I’m not willing to show it.“

 

“This makes me wonder...did they give us these tattoos, these... _Brands_ when they locked us in here? What purpose do they serve?” Serph wondered aloud.

 

“We got cool looking tattoos for free, why overthink it?” Cielo responded with a smile.

 

“That’s the most I’ve heard Serph say since we got here, he probably filled his talking quota for the year with that.” Mick joked.

 

Jenna and Gale didn’t seem fully convinced. “Perhaps this warrants some research.” Gale said to Jenna. She simply nodded in response, her eyes filled with conviction.

 

“If we’re going to be doing this every morning, perhaps we should take shifts making breakfast? I’m fine doing it every morning but...the help would be nice. Shall we draw straws before we all go on our way?” Lupa suggested. No one really wanted to say no to him, since he did take it upon himself to cook for them. He went to the kitchen and came back with a bunch of sticks cut at different lengths. Everyone picked and the two with the shortest were...somehow Gale and Jenna. It had to be rigged somehow. Gale didn’t seem to mind, but Jenna groaned audibly. She still accepted it.

 

The breakfast group slowly dispersed as people finished eating, everyone going their separate ways. Sera, Lupa, and Cielo stayed behind to clean up while everyone went elsewhere to kill time. Serph however, decided to go check out the Karma Gashapon again.

 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

He made his way to the Karma Gashapon room and realized he didn’t have any coins to even use it. He went to investigate it when Schrodinger appeared without warning as always.

 

“Meow. Congratulations on surviving a night. Every night there isn’t a killing I will reward you with allowance to use the _Karma Gashapon_.”

 

Serph briefly wondered if he overlooked any coins in his room but...he felt his pocket jingle. _How did he slip that into his pocket with no opposable thumbs?_

 

“Meow. Don’t ask questions you aren’t prepared to know the answer to.” Schrodinger said, before disappearing. What a strange cat. Serph fished around his pocket and found three coins. He slipped a coin into the machine and received the ‘Detanglr 5000’ Hairbrush, which claimed to be able to detangle even the messiest of hair. With his second coin, he received the ‘Montuïc Fountain Pen’, said to achieve any dream written with it. With his last one, he got a pack of ‘Space Jerky’. Serph felt as though there was innuendo to be made with that one, but dispelled those thoughts.

 

Serph knew exactly who to give these gifts to...And he knew he could do this everyday granted that there wasn’t a murder to get some more of these interesting trinkets. He made a mental note to come back each day.

 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Serph knocked on their door, and it didn’t seem they were around. He was about to give up when-- _Oh. Of course they wouldn’t be there._

 

Serph knocked on Jinana’s door instead, and it was, of course, Jinana who answered the door, with Argilla alongside her.

 

“May I speak to you?” Serph asked plainly. Argilla gave Jinana a little wave goodbye and went with Serph into the lounge. When they sat on the sofa Serph pulled out the Detanglr 5000 and handed it to her.

 

“Holy shit thanks! This’ll be useful, my hair is a literal JUNGLE, thank goodness I had Jinana to help fix my hair when I woke up this morning or I’d look like the crypt keeper!” Argilla joked happily. She seemed content about the gift at the very least. “Sooo, you wanna hang out for awhile? Jinana needs some alone time to write right now anyway, so I should stay out of her hair.” Serph nodded contentedly.

 

Argilla grinned from ear to ear. “I got a question for you that might help jog some of your memories...What’s your favorite animal?” Argilla asked. Serph thought for a second, and shook his head. He couldn’t remember...Or maybe he just didn’t like animals? It’s not like they’re running around inside the school.

 

“That’s okay! I like all sorts, I don’t have just one favorite! The way I see it, life is just such a valuable thing...We only have one life to live, you know?”

 

“Like ‘yolo’?”

 

“You can remember dumb jokes but not your own favorite animal?”

 

“Getting past that, that’s why I got into activism. Not even just for animals, but for people. We should all strive to make the world a better place however we can, of course you don’t have to get on the level of the _Ultimate Activist_ but even little things can be okay!” Argilla explained. Serph admired her optimism.

 

Argilla was hugging a pillow, with a look of wonder in her eyes. “Can you imagine how great the world would be if we all worked together to make it a better place? A world with no corruption or injustice, a world that wouldn’t need an _Ultimate Activist_...I for one would gladly give up my title for that.”

 

Serph appreciated how happy she was talking about her talent. He felt a twinge of jealousy and briefly hoped his talent would come to him like a bolt of lightning, but it didn’t come.

 

“We should hang out like this again sometime! I should be going back to Jinana’s room to check up on her, she’s super quiet but...I dunno, I’ve never met anyone quite like her. She doesn’t smile much, but when she does it just makes you wanna protect her smile...B-But that’s beside the point, I’m gonna get going, see ya Serph!” She jolted up and sprinted to Jinana’s room. She was a very interesting person to say the least.

 

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

After spending time with Argilla, Serph went to the restroom to wash his face. Doing so always helped him relax a little, to regain his bearings. Of course he would have been able to relax if he could wash his face in peace, which he couldn’t. Upon walking into the men’s restroom he saw Heat and Varin arm wrestling in the way of the sink, on chairs they brought all the way from the nearby classroom _They could have just arm wrestled in the actual classroom, how did they remove the chairs? They were welded down…?_

 

It wasn’t just Heat and Varin. Lupa and Gale were having a match too, and Harley, Bat and Cielo were cheering on Heat and Varin (Well, Bat was cheering _against_ Heat rather). Mick and Roland stood to the side of the door, watching the whole thing unfold. “I just wanted to wash my hands…” Roland murmured.

 

“I didn’t even want to come, Heat dragged me here for a match and I refused, but I wanna stay and watch.” Mick whispered to Serph. “It’s like watching a nature documentary but for meatheads, they’ve been at this for 20 minutes.”

 

Heat called out without looking back. “Yo Slug, you sure you don’t wanna have a match?”

 

Mick grinned. “Sure, if you let me use both hands.”

He seemed to be struggling against Varin’s grip. “For sure--”

 

“I was joking, I’m not having an arm wrestling match with you dumbass.”

 

“Fuck you.”

 

“Kick his ass Omega! Ruin him! R-U-I-N HIM!” Bat cheered out. _Not the most encouraging cheer…_

 

“You’re just on his side because he’s against me!” Heat said, visibly exasperated.

 

“Yeah, so? I don’t like him either but I don’t like you more.”

 

“Wow, I’m fucking flattered twinkletoes.” Varin said.

 

“Go Heat! You can do it!” Cielo cheered from Heat’s side.

 

“Y-You got this Varin! You’re strong!” Harley hummed.

 

Heat gritted his teeth. “Fuck you Varin!”

 

“Fuck you double O’Brien!”

 

“Fuck you triple!”

 

Roland interrupted. “Yes yes fuck you fuck him fuck everyone, can I get to the sink please?”

 

Serph cleared his throat. “Hello.” Heat seemed startled and Varin took that chance to push his arm all the way down and win the match. “That one didn’t count Varin, Serph interrupted!” Heat yelled out. Heat turned to face Serph and pointed to him, “You’re next asshole.”

 

Varin cackled. “Sure it didn’t, O’Brien.” He cracked his knuckles and blew imaginary smoke off of them to show off, which only seemed to make Heat angrier. Instead of arguing, they turned their attention to Gale and Lupa’s match, which was far less intense.

 

“You’re pretty good at this, Gale. I’m quite impressed.” Lupa said, the friendly banter much different than Heat and Varin’s rancorous match.

 

“I suppose so. It’s all a matter of grip, along with hand and finger strength. Forearm, bicep, and tricep strength are also important factors in arm wrestling, as well as mental components such as distracting and getting your opponent off guard. If they stop paying attention to the match and start paying attention to your words--”

 

Without warning, Gale pushed Lupa’s hand down and took the win.

 

“Then victory is assured.” Lupa finished his sentence with a friendly smile. “Good game, Gale.” Lupa said. Gale pushed up the bridge of his nose and nodded.

 

“Thank you.”

 

Suddenly, Heat yanked Serph by the arm and pulled him toward the chairs. Heat sat down with his legs spread out and slammed his elbow onto the counter (which must have been painful, but he didn’t flinch) and extended his hand toward Serph. Serph smiled at him and took his hand, beginning the match. “Hope you’re ready, Serph.”

 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Serph regretted indulging Heat in the arm wrestling match(es) to say the very least. His arm felt like it could fall off...Heat mumbled something about training to beat Varin and Serph spent some time relaxing in the lounge on his own, occasionally stretching out his arm to mitigate the soreness, when Sera came in, fidgeting with her hands.

 

“Serph, umm...Lupa, Cielo and I are planning a big dinner tonight and we wanted to make sure everyone was coming...W-Would you be able to make it?”

 

_Of course I can, it’s not like I have anywhere else to be and it’s for you anyway._

 

Serph simply nodded his head and smiled, which made Sera completely ecstatic. She thanked him and rushed back down the stairs to get to the kitchen with Lupa and Cielo. After watching her go, Serph decided to visit the infirmary to get some painkillers. No amount of stretching was helping his pain as he was still quite sore. Heat sure did love competition.

 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

It was actually the first time Serph had gone into the infirmary himself. The room was lined with cabinets filled with all sorts of medication. Allergy medication, painkillers, laxatives, cough suppressants, basically anything one could need in a near infinite supply. There was a small curtain to the back and behind it Serph assumed was a hospital chair meant for checking out patients.

 

He wasn’t the only one there. Jenna was perusing the shelves for something, with that same intense look she always had in her eyes. Even when she was alone she didn’t falter, she maintained an air of resolution and dignity at all times. Serph found it admirable, if not a little bit intimidating.

 

He browsed the shelves until he came across the painkillers, he flipped the bottle in his hand and shoved it in his pocket and felt something else there. He had almost forgotten. Jenna had noticed him but didn’t really care to acknowledge him either way, so he figured he had to acknowledge her first. He tapped her on the shoulder, and without skipping a beat or turning around she spoke. “Don’t you have someone else to bother?”

 

“Mm-mm.” He responded.

 

Jenna sighed and turned to face him, with a scowl on her face as usual. He fished the Montuïc Fountain Pen out of his pocket and gingerly offered it to her. She looked intrigued. “Hmm? A gift? Are you trying to get something out of me? What’s the reason for this?” Serph shook his head in response and held it up to her. She blinked, staring at him quizzically for a second before she took it from his hands and shoved it in her coat pocket.

 

“Thank you, I suppose. Where’s that sad girl you’re always hanging out with? Did she get sick of you so you had no choice but to spend time with me?”  
  
Serph was already exasperated, but he was determined to get to know her, or at the very least try to understand why she was so constantly bitter.

 

“I just wanted to hang out with you.” Serph responded. She seemed a little confused.

 

“That’s a surprise, well, no matter. I needed to inspect your brand regardless, so this is a perfect opportunity. May I?”

 

Serph didn’t really feel as if he could say no either way, she didn’t seem like she’d take no for an answer, she was rather intense. He mumbled a ‘yes’ and she led him to the chair behind the curtain. She kicked a stool over beside him and sat down next to him with a clipboard on her lap. Maybe it was the fluorescent lighting above her, but she seemed softer from the angle Serph was looking at her from.

 

She immediately got to work. She looked at the brand, writing god knows what on her clipboard and making inquisitive sounds. After a little while, she put her hand on the mark and began inspecting it with her deft fingers, rubbing it and tracing the design. Serph was surprised by how soft her touch was. He was half expecting her to rip his cheek off, throw it under a microscope and call it a day. It was strange to feel such a gentle touch from such a harsh woman...It wasn’t a bad thing, just unexpected.

 

Jenna cleared her throat. “It looks like a regular, albeit strange tattoo but… I feel like there must be more to it. I don’t think they’d just brand us like cattle for no reason, something about them is just off.” She tapped the pen on her clipboard, absentmindedly. “...But ruminating for hours about the brands won’t do us any good, I suppose.” her tone was much more affable than usual. _Does she get this matter-of-fact whenever she’s analyzing something? Funny, she’s kind of similar to Gale when she’s like this._ Serph thought.

 

“What are you waiting for, an invitation? You can get up now, and get that foolish look off your face.” She was back to normal it looked like.

 

As Serph got up from the chair, dusting himself off, Jenna looked at him out of the corner of her eye. Her eyes seemed less harsh than usual, though still just as clinical. “It doesn’t look as though studying the brands will be of any use, but you’d make a great guinea pig. If you ever get sick of hanging out with that two bit mystic, let me know.” She walked off and left the infirmary without so much as a goodbye.

 

She had an extraordinary intellect, but her personality was just so...fiery and abrasive. She had a mouth on her and was never afraid to speak her mind, which Serph could respect but...she took it to an extreme that made her difficult to get along with. Serph briefly wondered how Gale could put up with her, but she didn’t seem to attack him as often as she did the others. Perhaps Gale’s milquetoast temperament balanced out her intense one?

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

He had one more gift to give, which he could’ve given earlier but had forgotten in the passion of the arm wrestling match. He went to their door and knocked cordially, as always. And out came...Varin. From what Serph could see of his room, it was incredibly well organized. Varin was wearing camo sweats, reclining at the doorway. “What do you need, soldier?” Varin asked.

 

Serph stretched his hand out with the Space Jerky and Varin snickered. It seems he saw the innuendo too. Serph was amused. “Thanks. Heat’s been at the gym all day and night, even I haven’t been able to keep up with him…He’s dedicated I’ll give him that.” Even in this situation, Heat and Varin had become fast friends. They both admired each other’s strength and had equally over the top personalities, so they got along swimmingly. Serph had to admit he admired a friendship like that.

 

“Hey, wanna play me at darts? When I beat Heat he ripped the dartboard off the wall, threw it, and swore he wouldn’t play me again until he could beat me so he’s not an option.” _Heat’s a rather interesting person isn’t he._

 

“Sure.”

 

Varin looked pumped about it, and the two rushed over to the bartender lab, which was empty at the time. “You know you’re lucky you arm wrestled Heat and not me. If I can do one thing, it’s arm wrestle like it’s nobodies business.” _Was that supposed to be impressive…?_

 

Serph simply smiled at him and the two went to the board. “Back at Boot Camp I was the master at darts. We both start with 501 points and take three shots. We work our way down until someone hits 0. I’ll be nice and give you the first shot, if it misses I’ll just let you retry--”

 

Serph hit the bullseye in the first shot.

 

Varin’s mouth gaped open.

 

“You nerd types and your trajectory bullshit...More fun this way, whatever, take your next shot.”

 

Serph hit the 11 and T20. That’s a total of 121 points...on his first turn. Serph was down to 380. Poor Varin.

 

Varin had an intense look in his eyes. Serph woke Varin’s competitive spirit. (Somewhere, Heat’s ears perked up.) He gritted his teeth and collected the darts from the board. He threw his arm back, and with as much force as possible he threw his dart--

 

1, Outer Bull and 5. _Didn’t he say he was the best at this..._ Serph wondered how bad Heat must’ve been in comparison. 31 points, which dropped Varin down to 470.

“That was just a warmup. I do my best when I’m pushed into a corner, just you wait Serphy…” _What am I getting myself into…_

Varin wasn’t lying. Once Serph got himself down to 300, Varin went in. He hit three T20s, back to back to back. “What’d I tell ya Serph? This game is already won.” Serph now saw why Heat and Varin were always arguing. Varin’s competitiveness was almost contagious...Serph had to win. You could almost see the fire in Varin and Serph’s eyes, they were almost glowing with pure energy. Somewhere, Heat got goosebumps.

 

Serph had 31 points, Varin had 10. He needed at least 31 to win the match...Serph grinned. He threw his dart and got--

 

Bullseye.

 

Varin ripped the board off the wall, just like Heat had done before, and threw it on the ground. Serph mentally hoped Roland didn’t like darts that much, and sighed.

 

“Next time I won’t go so easy on you, you hear me?” Varin pointed at him, which would be a lot more intimidating if he didn’t just throw a temper tantrum over a darts game. Varin huffed and stormed out of the lab without looking back, passing by Roland on his way in without even greeting him. Serph watched Varin go and smiled to himself. He was very lively, to say the least. It was nice to have someone with so much energy and confidence in his abilities around, and Serph could only think of how helpful it would be to have someone like Varin in his corner, helping him whenever he needed it.

 

Roland looked down at the dartboard and simply sighed, not even bothering to pick it up before going to grab a book. Serph apologized sheepishly and tried to right the cracked board on the wall before it fell down again.

 

_Next time, I’ll just let Varin win._

 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Last thing Serph knew, it was time for Sera’s dinner. Set on the table was...exactly what Serph would’ve expected for the breakfast. It was more of a dessert table than a dinner table. All kinds of chocolates and desserts on the table, with a few dishes clearly made by Lupa, the actual dinner (An absurd amount of curry rice, there would be leftovers for days even if everyone got two helpings).

 

In attendance was Lupa, Sera, and Cielo obviously, as well as Argilla, Jinana, Harley, Varin, Gale, Roland, and Margot. A few people were missing in attendance, but Serph wasn’t all too sure who.

 

The mood in the room was lighthearted. Everyone was eating Lupa’s curry rice and enjoying it, bar Cielo and Sera who were piling their plates with desert (Lupa INSISTED they eat curry rice and said something about their appetite being ruined).

 

“With a dinner like this thank fuck we have a gym…” Varin mumbled. Harley next to him was eating what looked like chocolate icing covered in sprinkles. _What kind of a meal is this…_

 

Varin took some of the dessert off of Harley’s plate and put it back, much to Harley’s dismay. “Eat some actual food firecrotch, or you’ll be small and scrawny forever…” Harley simply smiled and nodded. “Thanks Varin!” he beamed.

 

Gale seemed especially distant without Jenna around, quietly eating the curry without a comment. Lupa moved to sit next to him, and laughed a little. “You know, I don’t think I will ever convince that Cielo to eat more than one serving of vegetables.” Gale gave a nod of acknowledgment. He was ever the quiet one. “I’m honoured you seem to like the curry though.” Lupa continued.

 

“I’m not particularly picky with food, I’m simply eating what would have a better distribution of nutrients.”

 

“I...see.”

 

“Though as far as curry goes, this is the most I’ve enjoyed eating one,”

 

 _That’s...something._ Serph supposes. He turned away his attention from them when Gale and Lupa settled on talking about how gelatin contains bones and spent the whole night talking about that somehow.

 

Sera slid next to Serph. “I hope everyone is enjoying the food!” Serph nodded vigorously and got to filling his plate with some dessert to make her happy. She grinned in response. “Cielo and I made all of this ourselves! Lupa made the curry rice though, but it’s pretty good!”

 

Roland and Margot were discussing wine, something called ‘Gewürztraminer’ and how it would pair well with fruit tarts, Serph didn’t particularly understand what they were talking about but they seemed to be enjoying themselves.

 

“Our dessert isn’t particularly...advanced but I do think I have a nice red to go with all the chocolate we got here…” Roland said.

 

Margot seemed pleased. “Hmm...as much as I would enjoy it we probably should not imbibe during our group dinner...Perhaps some other time, Roland?”

 

“For sure, Cuvier.” Roland said with a smile.

 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

The dinner went on until Cielo and Sera managed to empty out the dessert plates between the two of them. A big dinner of sweets like that got everyone feeling sluggish, so there was little argument for everyone to go back to bed. In fact, everyone was in their rooms and ready to sleep before the announcement even happened.

 

Serph was happy he could relax...the night before was troubled with nightmares, he barely even got to sleep. This night was filled with happy thoughts and a full stomach, thoughts of new friends and fun conversations...He was worried he was becoming too accustomed to the place. He briefly thought it wouldn’t be so bad, stuck in here for a while with this group of people. They were all pretty nice...bar Jenna and Bat, but he felt like he could become friends with even them given some time… He hoped they could all get out of their confinement and go on to become good friends.

 

Serph drifted off into a deep sleep...little did he know how the next night would dash his hopes and change everything.  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1-3 is gonna take even longer bc its gonna be a lot of writing and im gonna be really busy with work but. look forward to it. comments w/ who you think is gonna be the killer/victim pair uwu!!

**Author's Note:**

> This fic and AU is incredibly self indulgent and VenomousOctopus and I thought it up YEARS ago and we're just now putting it in text. I'm not sure if there's really a demand for this fic, but if anyone in the (very small and empty) DDS fanbase enjoys it I'll be glad. I'll be doing Free Time Events based on what people want, if theres anyone you want to see more interactions of basically, just let me know.


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